Tan Happy (and Healthy)

I've been sitting here pondering what to write about, and my mind is an absolute blank. All I can think about is the flaming heat emanating from my arms, legs and face. Yes, folks, I got a bit of a sunburn today. So since I have foolishly failed to adequately protect my skin in a vain attempt to get a tan today (they really do mean it when they say reapply sunscreen frequently!), I figured I'd talk about the safest way to tan - sunless tanners!

Before I get into sunless tanners, I thought it would be interesting to examine the lure of the suntan. Who decided that brown skin was in? Back in the 18th and 19th centuries, a suntan was considered completely undesirable. A tan indicated a person spent a lot of time outside, which indicated the person was a manual laborer. While those workers were outside bronzing their skin as they worked in the fields, the wealthy classes lounged inside, in their pale splendor. However, in the 20th century, that all started to change. The working class started working inside at factory jobs and the like. Meanwhile, the wealthy class had the leisure time to spend time outside in the sun. Since then, the suntan has continued to evolve as a status symbol.

To safely achieve a status-symbol tan, consider using a sunless tanner. Sunless tanners are quite an ingenious invention. The basic principal is that the lotion (or spray, or towel - there are tons of options!) temporarily dyes the top layer of your skin using an ingredient called DHA. I'll be honest - the DHA can be a little stinky and very distinctive. But consider the trade off - would you rather allow the sun's rays to break down the DNA in your skin's cells (scary, huh?) in your attempt to get a glowing tan, or would you rather get a gorgeous tan by applying a lotion that, albeit stinky, keeps your DNA intact?

My favorite sunless tanner is a gradual tanner, which means it slowly builds up color in a way that look natural. I've tried my share of tanners, although there are definitely a few more out there I'm dying to try! But I have to say that Coppertone's Endless Summer Gradual Tanner is good stuff! The color is very natural, and even if you apply the lotion every day, you don't end up with ugly splotches after a few days, as I've experienced with other gradual tanners. The smell is very non-offensive (I've used much worse), and it dries pretty quickly!
Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy a day in the sun (with SPF 45) every now and again. But I'm going to rely on my favorite self tanner this summer to help me achieve my bronze glow.

Here's a Secret you'll definitely want to keep...

I walked into my local Sephora store today, and to my sheer and utter delight, I discovered they added two fabulous brands - Make Up For Ever (or MUFE, as us makeup junkies say) and Laura Mercier.

Since it's late and I'm too tired to give you the skinny on both of these outstanding brands, I'll give you the highlights on one - Laura Mercier.

Laura Mercier, renowned makeup artist, has a line that's filled with timeless, flattering, chic products that make you look flawless. Her website says, "Laura Mercier's philosophy is simple. Making your skin look perfect is the first and most important thing you can do to achieve a truly great look. The key is to enhance your natural beauty - accentuate the positive."

Perfect is an understatement. I only have two Laura Mercier products - her Secret Concealer and her Secret Brightening Powder. I can't attest to how perfect her products make my entire face, but I can tell you that my undereye area looks damn near flawless.

I have undereye issues - dark circles, dry skin, fine lines from all the smiling I do... Usually, when I use a concealer, it's too dry, doesn't really hide the dark circles, and creases like mad. But when I use the Secret Concealer, which has a wonderfully thick but creamy consistency, my undereye is moisturized, totally concealed, and...thanks to the Secret Brightening Powder that I use to set the concealer...totally crease free!

Perhaps I should back up there. Do you know that you can "set" your concealer with a translucent powder to help prevent creases and add to the longevity of the makeup? If you use a poor quality powder, the fine lines under your eyes can be enhanced when you set your concealer. But the Secret Brightening Powder is ultra-silky and finely milled so the powder doesn't settle into your fine lines. The results are a smooth undereye.

Unfortunately, Laura's products aren't exactly budget-friendly. Both the Secret Concealer and the Secret Brightening Powder are $22. But trust me, you're going to want to "keep" Laura's Secrets in your makeup bag for a long time!

May's Must-Have Brush

Sorry for the lack of new posts in the last month - the semester is almost over now, so I'll be back to my normal routine!

On to better and brighter topics...makeup!

The right makeup brush can make a huge difference in your makeup application. I thought I had found the Holy Grail of brushes (Essence of Beauty Kabuki) to use for applying my bareMinerals, but I was wrong. Way wrong.

Upon the recommendation of many people on my most trusted source for beauty information, MakeupAlley, I purchased a foundation brush from a mineral makeup e-tailer called Alima Cosmetics. With baited breath, I waited for only a few short days (they have fabulously fast shipping!) for my brush to arrive. If this brush was anything like what I had heard, I knew I would be pleased.

Pleased is a drastic understatement of what I felt after trying the brush. Elated, awestruck, stoked. These words all come to mind. This definitely was the best purchase I made this month, and perhaps the best purchase I've made this year (with the exception of my iPod, but that doesn't count).

The brush is the softest thing I've ever felt. And the densely packed brush head makes for flawless mineral makeup application. Honestly, after doing my makeup using this brush, I don't know how I could ever revert back to my beloved kabuki.

If you get a chance, check out Alima's website. The brush is called #25 Foundation Brush. At $25, it will set you back a few bucks, but you won't regret it!

Innocent fun

Believe me, I'm a die-hard fan of Bare Minerals foundation. So when I say that I've discovered a liquid foundation that I like just as much as my coveted Bare Minerals, you know it's gotta be good!

The product? Chanel's newest addition to its foundation family, Teint Innocence Naturally Luminous Fluid Makeup. On the Chanel website, they say this product "allows skin's natural glow to show through while it evens out skin tone and helps to conceal imperfections."

Indeed it does! The foundation is very light and fairly sheer, which is why I was shocked at its coverage capabilities. I have a few red marks on my face caused by my bad habit of picking at blemishes (which, thanks to my AHA Souffle, are slowly fading!), so sheer foundations do not usually work for me. But this foundation has a certain creaminess to it, that, even though it's as light as air, covers these red marks remarkably! Instead of having to put on foundation, then a few layers of concealer to hide these marks, I can use my Teint Innocence alone for nearly perfect coverage. With the help of a little concealer, my face looks darn near flawless!

However, this little puppy will put a bit of a dent in your pocketbook. At $42.50, it's not the most expensive foundation out there, but it certainly is up there in the ranks. Fortunately, I don't need to put much on, so it should last me for a while.

A word of advice: ask the Chanel counter for some samples before you take the plunge and whip out your credit card. Like fine wine, foundation is an extremely personal preference - what works for one person may not work for others.

And just so you know, I don't plan on abandoning my beloved Bare Minerals. A girl just needs a change every now and again!

Blushing beauty

It's amazing what a difference a hint of blush can make on your face. In one little swipe of a fluffy brush, you can have a amazingly subtle glow that awakens your whole complexion.

I rarely used to get into trying different blushes. I'd use my old standby (Benetint cheek stain, which works fabulously), and leave it at that. On occasion, I'd experiment with a few other blushes in my makeup bag, but I'd faithfully return to my same-ol'-same-ol' after so long. But that, of course, got old after a while, and it became time for me to branch out.

Thus, I've become a bit blush obsessed. I'm trying colors I never thought I could wear, and have discovered some amazing products that will forever reside in my makeup collection. Granted, I'm not going to abandon the old blush that has faithfully flushed my cheeks for the last 2 years. Instead, I'm embracing change and all the options out there for me to try!

A few of my faves (which I'm sure you'll love, since they are cheaper than cheap!):

Milani Powder Blush in Luminous: This blush shade is a lovely shimmery peach/pink and is absolutely perfect. Unfortunately, the company has - for some crazy reason - discontinued their old blushes, and your only option to buy this now is on eBay. But trust me, it's worth it, since it's considered a "dupe" for the highly popular "Orgasm" blush made by NARS.

Wet n' Wild Blush in Naive: When you see the color of this blush in the compact, it might scare you a little. It's a bright pink/coral shade (no shimmer) that looks gorgeous on. But a word to the wise, if you have fair skin, use this with a light hand and a skunk brush or you might end up looking clownish. Price - $2.99 (you can't beat that!)

Jane Shimmering Blush in Peony: If you love shimmer as much as me, this is a perfect blush for you. The color is very sheer and very subtle (it's not as bright as it looks in the compact), and it produces a beautiful glow on your cheeks. I like using this on the apples of my cheeks, especially if I layer it over another color (like Naive, perhaps!). Price - $5.99.

So go out and start your own personal blush obsession. A couple of bucks can get you a beautiful glowy flush that will leave you smiling from ear to ear!

With the right tools, any face is possible

As much as I love makeup, I tend to give little thought to the tools I use to apply my makeup. But after washing my brushes recently (something you really must do with a fair amount of regularity), I realize my makeup brush collection is rather feeble. Thus, I've been on a mission to amp it up a bit. But until I really started looking, I had no idea brushes were so expensive! Luckily, for the girl (or guy - no one's judging!) on a budget, there are some fabulous brush lines available at fabulous prices.

Essence of Beauty:
This brush line is available exclusively at CVS drugstores and ranges in price from around $5 to $15. My personal favorite brush is the Kabuki. As I've posted previously, I use my Kabuki to apply my mineral makeup, but it can be used for bronzer, powder, highlighter or even blush. Other standouts from this line are their foundation/concealer double-end brush, and their eyeshadow brushes. The hair is synthetic, for those who are animal friendly, and the brushes are all ultra soft.

Sonia Kashuk:
These brushes are made exclusively for Target. I'm sure you've seen the Sonia Kashuk section if you've spent any time in the cosmetics department of Target. The prices of these brushes are a bit higher than the Essence of Beauty brushes, but you still won't break the bank. You'll pay anywhere from $5 to $20 (and less if you happen to find brushes on clearance!). A favorite SK tool of mine is her metal lash comb. Priced right around $5-6, this metal version of the traditional lash comb will help you say buh-bye to thick clumpy lashes. Other favorites are her powder brush and eyeshadow blending brush.

Japonesque:
If you have a little extra cash, but still can't afford super expensive makeup brushes, this might be a brand worth checking out. Japonesque is sold at various retailers: Ulta, Nordstrom, Trade Secret, and Merle Norman are a few examples. Prices run between $8 and $34, but these brushes are a great value for the price. You can save even more money if you opt for the travel version of the brush, which just means it has a slightly shorter handle. The short handle can be particularly handy if you're trying to do your eye makeup, since it gives you better control. My personal favorite brush from this line is the flat eyeliner brush. The super-firm bristles make it easy to get your eyeliner right at the base of your lashes so they look ultra-full.

Bottom line? There's hope for us brush newbies who can't afford to spend our money on MAC or Chanel or Bobbi Brown brushes. These drugstore brand brushes offer exceptional quality similar to their high end counterparts, but at a fraction of the price. And with all the money you save on brushes, you can buy oodles more makeup to use with your new brushes!

Smooth, flawless skin? Sign me up!

What if I told you there's a moisturizer that can help create smooth, even skin, help minimize pore size, and even decrease the look of wrinkles over time? You'd probably want it, right? I mean, come on - who doesn't want to have perfect skin? So what if I said that such a product can be found at your local drugstore for less than $20? Riiiiiiiight, you'd say. Like you can get something like that for under $100.

Well believe it. Alpha Hydrox has a product called AHA Souffle, and it can help transform your face in ways you've never imagined! The Souffle is a 12% Glycolic Acid cream that you slather on your face at night (and/or in the morning), and with regular use, can produce great results.

Brief tutorial on alpha hydroxy acids (AHA). I won't bother to tell you about the chemical makeup because after all, this is blog about beauty, not chemistry. In a nutshell, they are naturally occurring acids derived from sugar in certain plants. They basically help speed up cell turnover in your skin by dissolving the gunk that holds your dead skin cells together (and yes, "gunk" is a highly technical term). The result - smoother, even-toned skin. Glycolic acid, the ingredient I mentioned above, is one of several AHAs.

OK, so back to the product at hand. I've been using this cream every night for the last three weeks, and my-oh-my is my skin feeling smooth! It's like baby's-butt smooth. Expensive Italian leather smooth. And the coolest thing is that it's fading some of those obnoxious red marks that are left over after you pick at your zits (big no-no, by the way - it's a habit I'm trying to break). I can't really make an assessment if it's shrunk my pores or lessened my few wrinkles (yes, I have a few small wrinkles - if I had been serious about wearing sunscreen when I was younger, I might be whistling a different tune today). But I'd imagine over time that might be more apparent.

Regardless, at $15, this is a great value. However, please be advised that this heightens your sun sensitivity, so make sure you incorporate a good sunscreen into your daily beauty routine! Your wrinkle-free face will thank me for it.

So go check it out the next time you're at Walgreens. It's youth in a bottle, I swear!

(One last caution: some people have said that at first, AHA creams cause them to break out - a phenomenon known as "purging." Basically, the idea behind purging is that your skin gets rid of all the bad stuff before it can "heal" or whatever. I haven't had that kind of reaction with this product, but others have said that they stuck it out a week or two and it was like their skin did a complete 180 after it purged. I wanted to make you aware of this possibility so you don't post nasty things if you happen to get a breakout or two after trying this! Just stick with it and hopefully I won't let you down!)