Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds

It’s MAC MAKEUP WEEK here at Makeup and Beauty Blog!

Okay MAC junkies - it’s been a while since I’ve done any MAC makeup related entries, so this week Makeup and Beauty Blog will wax philosophic on several can’t-live-without MAC products.

Got a MAC product that you makes you sing “I can’t live, if living is without yoooouuuuu?” E-mail me at karen at makeupandbeautyblog dot com and tell me what MAC product you love and why you can’t live without it. I’ll be compiling all of your favorite MAC products into a Reader’s Favorite MAC Products Post at the end of MAC MAKEUP WEEK!

Product: MAC Eye Brush - 266 Small Angle Brush
Use: For application of eye shadow, liquid liner and other eye products.
Price: $18.50
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Behold, beauty obsessed readers – the MAC 266 brush! Bow down before it! Worship it for its magical ability to create eyebrows out of thin air! SHHHHH - speak only of it in hushed tones - for it is the 266 and your new favorite brush.

Okay, okay, so maybe you’re not about to start chanting “266! 266! 266!” But after you try this brush you may not be able to live without it.
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Alberto VO5 Tea Therapy Clarifying Conditioner in Vanilla Mint Tea

It’s usually standard operating procedure to wash your hair with shampoo every day. While this may work for many women, it doesn’t work for me because my hair is thick, wavy and dry. No, I don’t walk around with a stinky head of hair a la Pig Pen. I “shampoo” using a cheap drugstore conditioner!

Why Skip Shampoo?
I started skipping shampoo when my hairstylist noticed my hair looked and felt overly dry. She asked what my routine was, and I told her I was coloring my hair, and then on top of that washing and blow drying it straight every day. She suggested skipping a day (even skipping two or three days if I could handle it) between washing and blow drying. That way, my blow out would last longer and I wouldn’t have to subject my hair to the daily abuses of heat styling. Another alternative she mentioned was to skip shampoo entirely a few times a week. She suggested using water to rinse my scalp and hair and then following up with a conditioner.

I did this for a few years until I realized that I hated spending so much time with my hair dryer. If you have thick, long, curly hair and wear it straight, you know it can take from 45-60 minutes to blow it out. If you’re blowing it out at least four times a week that’s four hours spent with your blow dryer! When I had this epiphany I realized, holy crap, all that time I spent fighting to get my hair straight I could’ve been doing other things like learning French or building a better mouse trap.

So about a year ago, I decided to stop fighting nature and embrace my wavy hair. That’s when I learned about the world of conditioner washing.
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Product: Smith’s Rosebud Salve
Use: As a lip blam and moisturizer for chaffed skin.
Price: about $5.50 for a 0.8 oz tin
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: C

Smith’s Rosebud Salve has been around since 1892 and consistently gets favorable write ups in the big fashion and beauty mags.

It’s made from a petrolatum base mixed with cotton seed oil, aromal and essential oils. The tin says that in addition to using it as lip gloss or balm, it can also be used on chapped skin, blemishes, diaper rash or detergent burn.

I bought a tin on impulse at Pure Beauty and after using it for a few weeks I have only one word regarding all the hype: WHY? So many beauty editors love this stuff but I think it’s way overrated.
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