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

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

When they first arrived they were not met with a happy welcome.

Of course the first step was denial. Never mind that whenever I ran or cartwheeled or climbed trees they were always bouncing every which way. I was 11. I was a tomboy. My agenda involved riding bikes, playing baseball: I absolutely had no plans to grow up, acquire boobs or wear bras in the near future.

But then there they were. And one day, when my best friend and I were running around her yard pretending to be Olympic track stars, her mom noticed that I was sprinting in the most peculiar way. Without thinking, I cradled my arms underneath my bosoms to prevent the No-These-Aren’t-Boobs from bouncing around as I ran sans arms for the Gold.

Her mom made a quick jaunt to our house and gently mentioned to my mother that I might want to get something to rein those suckers in. And although in my mind tomboys didn’t need no stinking bras and I was determined to live in my life of boob-denial, my mom sat me down that evening and declared, “YOU WILL BE GETTING A BRA THIS WEEKEND.”

And so I went to bed that night in tears.

Even though I was just 11, I knew that my life was changing, and that from now on, things would be different because I was growing up. That frightened me most of all.

While the relationship between my breasts began with a rocky start, I can say now that I appreciate them. They’ve helped me score numerous free beers. Oh, and my husband claims they were really “easy on the eyes” on our first date.

But in all seriousness, I thank the powers-that-be every day that the boobs been healthy thus far. Within the past few years I’ve had a few friends who’ve been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. These amazing women are survivors, and are my heroes.

So, in honor of these wonderful ladies I’ll be doing several posts this month dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Several of my favorite beauty lines are selling special products with proceeds that go to different Breast Cancer organizations. If you’re planning on buying a lipstick or a blush this October, please think about purchasing something that supports the cause. It’s a small step, but you can still make a difference. See - makeup can be a powerful thing!

Product: Limited Edition of Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. Check out the cute Clinique and Pink Ribbon cell phone charms!
Use: As a moisturizing facial lotion
Price: $35.00 for a 6.7 fl. oz pump-top bottle
Who this benefits: $10 per Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preventing breast cancer and finding a cure in our lifetime by funding the most innovative clinical and genetic research at leading medical centers worldwide. For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrfcure.org or call 1.866.FIND.A.CURE.

Product: Prescriptives’ Limited Edition Pink Ahead Colorscope Eye Color
Use: A shadow trio to highlight, define and contour eyes - wear each shade alone or blend them together to create your own customized look.
Price: $17.50
Who this benefits: Purchasing a product from this collection helps Prescriptives donate $40,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Product: Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights and Smashbox Face & Body Brush #19
Use: Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights is a powder highlighter that gives skin a natural-rosy hue. Apply with Face & Body Brush #19 to your face or décolleté.
Price: $59.00
Who this benefits:A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the set will go directly to the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, a grassroots advocacy group dedicated to finding a cure.

Product: Splendid and Estee Lauder’s Limited-Edition Pink Camouflage Tank Top
Use: To cover your bosoms and to raise awareness that early detection saves lives!
Price: $42.00
Who this benefits: Splendid will donate 25% of the proceeds from the sale of each tank top to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

I hope you get the chance to hug the women you love on this wonderful Wednesday.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Drugstore Beauty Grab Bag

If you spent a little too much at the MAC counter this weekend, you know I feel your pain. What’s a girl to do when she’s got limited dollars in her beauty budget? One of the ways I like to balance the costs of my beauty dollars is to mix department store and drugstore products. I don’t think cost is necessarily an indicator of a product’s effectiveness - it could be all just part of the marketing scheme, for all I know.

I like to prowl Rite Aid and Long’s for skin care and body care products, especially. Here are a few that currently are in heavy rotation!

Product: Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream
Use: As an anti-aging cream that smoothes skin, lifts sagging eras and restores elasticity
Price: $24.00
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

What I liked about it:
- Great light, fruity scent
- Non-sticky product texture that’s thick but doesn’t leave a sticky film on my face and neck
- Very moisturizing
- A little goes a long way, and you don’t need to use a lot of it.

What I didn’t like about it:
- Can’t positively say if it actually helped to lift or restore elasticity
- Jar packaging isn’t convenient, I wish it came in travel-friendly pump form.

Somebody once asked me what my anti-aging secret was, and I told them that it was a combination of immaturity and sunscreen. My sunscreen choice since I was a teenager has been Olay Complete. I’ve always had good luck with Olay products and love trying anything that they come out with because I’ve been a long-term user of the brand, so I got the chance to try Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream I was stoked. Get me on that Olay train!

I have to say the biggest thing about this cream is that it smells and feels great. The scent is light but not overwhelming or chemical. It’s light and fruity and a pleasure to put on at night. The texture of the product once applied to my skin is also great. I don’t like the sticky feeling some lotions have – I especially can’t stand having a sticky neck, yuck! But this cream leaves my skin feeling dry and moisturized.

The active ingredients are an amino-peptide complex and an intracellular fortifier made up of hyaluronic acid. Like with other anti-aging products that I’ve tested, I can’t really say if Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream actually lifted sagging areas and restored elasticity. It’s really hard to quantify, especially if you don’t have lots of areas sagging areas to start with (gimme a few years though, ha!)

The biggest points with this cream are that I like the texture, scent and the fact that it does provide excellent moisturization.

You might like it if:
- You are a fan of the Olay brand
- You like your moisturizers to feel dry and not sticky after application
- You need a heavier moisturizer on your face and neck.

Product: Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser
Use: As combination foaming cleanser and makeup remover
Price: $7.00 for a 6.7 fl oz pump bottle
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

What I liked about it:
- Removes all types of makeup quickly and thoroughly
- Great price
- Handy pump-top packaging

What I didn’t like about it:
- Weird plastic-y smell
- Too drying for me, left my skin feeling tight

Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser is the Casanova of all quick-acting makeup removers. It takes it off. It takes it all off. And it does it faster than you can say “get naked Christian Bale!”

Ya’ll know that I’m often in a hurry, so I have a weak spot for products that work quickly. Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser is a combination makeup remover and cleanser, and the best part about it is that it removes foundation, powder and most eye makeup (you’ll need something to supplement if you use Liquidlast or Fluidline) lightening fast. It doesn’t hurt my eyes and rinses away without leaving a film on my skin. And it didn’t break me out, yay!

However I find that it’s just way too drying for my face, and after I rinse off within a few minutes my skin feels tight. Also, when I first started using it I noticed the cleanser had a strong plastic-smelling scent. It did fade away after a few uses, though.

You might like this if:
- You are a teenager or in your 20s and have oily skin that can tolerate stronger cleansers and doesn’t dry out easily
- You live in a humid climate
- You are lazy like me!

Product: Almay Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover Pads
Use: To remove waterproof eye makeup and longwearing lip color
Price: $6.00 for 80 pads
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

What I liked about it:
- Didn’t break me out
- Cheap, and you get a lot (80 pads) for your money
- Removes everything (Liquidlast did take a little work, though)
- Pads are soft and non-irritating
- Pads are thoroughly soaked with product

What I didn’t like about it:
- Need to rinse off with water
- Makes my eyes a little blurry (!) temporarily

So cheap. So effective. So lovin’ this!

I’ve been using Neutrogena Ultra-Soft Eye Makeup Remover Pads and Almay’s pads blow those pads right out of the water. Almay Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover Pads are softer, contain more eye-making removing product and work faster. I use fewer swipes to get remove long-wearing products like MAC Mattene Lipstick and MAC Liquidlast Liner. You also get so much more for your money. I can easily stretch this jar out by cutting the pads in half.

Sometimes I get the occasional small pimple in the browbone area because I tweeze so I was nervous about how oily this product is. So far it hasn’t broken me out, knock on wood.

The only downside so far is that I can’t just use these pads and go. I have to do a final rinse off to remove the oil, the makeup, everything. Plus, my eyes get a little temporary blurriness, but that seems to always happen to me when I use oil-based cleansers.

Oh, and FYI, the main ingredient in this is mineral oil, so if you are sensitive Almay Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover Pads might not work for you.

Despite the negatives I would definitely purchase this again. A Makeup and Beauty Blog Winner!

You might like this if:
- You wear long-wearing cosmetics
- You like oil-based removers

Product: Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash
Use: To clear body pimples
Price: about $7.00
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A++++

What I liked about it:
- Nice, light smell
- Dried up existing body pimples, yet didn’t dry out my skin
- Helped prevent additional pimples
- Thick formula that builds to cushiony foam

What I didn’t like about it:
- Not much, however I wish it was cheaper

Sweet jeebus this stuff saved my ass, literally. Notice how this bottle is almost halfway empty? That’s because I used it for a month to cure the acne that developed on my shoulders, back and bum (BOO!) after road testing Curls Milkshake. (And I have to say one more time – it could’ve also been the new medication I was taking, I can’t say for sure if it was that hair product.)

The active ingredient in Neutrogena Body Clear Body Wash is salicylic acid, which normally doesn’t do much in terms of pimple treatment/prevention on my face. It was a frickin’ miracle on my body though, and cleared up the handful of existing pimples quickly while preventing new ones from forming.

I was worried about the formula being too drying on the rest of my skin but that wasn’t the case at all. I just applied it onto my hands and washed without a bath puff or exfoliating gloves because I didn’t want to irritate my skin. The scent is light, and the formula builds up foam nicely. Love. This. Stuff.

You might like it if:
- You play a lot of sports and have to deal with body acne
- You are pregnant and your hormones are going nuts and you’re experiencing body acne
- You are a beauty blogger with sensitive skin who insists on testing mystery products

Drugstore Beauty Product True Confessions!

You might be wondering why you’re staring at this mangled tube of Neutrogena Visibly Even Foaming Cleanser. Well, I finished this bottle last week and could no longer squeeze any more product out of it. Instead of throwing it out I used some scissors to cut the top off. It was like Christmas, ya’ll! Inside was at least three more days worth of cleanser. I dug my little fingers in and just replaced the top back on the tube. You know I like to get my money’s worth!

Now don’t you feel smart?

Today is another gorgeous day in Northern California! I can’t wait to go out and go running today. The fall days here in Nor Cal are beautiful. The weather is warm with a slight crisp in the air, and the leaves are starting to change colors. If you ever travel to San Francisco late September/early October is probably the *best* time to visit.

How are you doing this Tuesday? I hope that wherever you are that you’re feeling good and lookin’ HOT!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Seven Random Things You Didn’t Know about Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog

1. I love all types of music. I hoard mp3s, and have songs that span all genres and eras. I realized last night that I had absolutely no Phil Collins songs in my music library, and for some reason this REALLY REALLY REALLY bothered me. So the first thing I did this morning was download “Billy, Don’t You Lose My Number,” “Sususudio,” and “Easy Lover.” I feel a bit more complete now.

For many years the real lyrics to the chorus in the song Invisible Touch (”She seems to have that invisible touch, yeah!”) eluded me.

2. I collect quotes that I like. I keep them in a quote journal and when I need inspiration I flip through the pages and read through them. Here are seven of my favorites:

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
–T.S. Elliot.

“ You are a warrior, and you are not to turn your back on the battlefield.”
–Suze Orman

“I tell you one lesson I learned
If you wanna be something in life
You ain’t gonna get it unless
You give a little bit of sacrifice.”
–The Roots

“There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open.”
–Martha Graham in “Dance to the Piper”

This is my favorite picture of Martha Graham. I had it on my bedroom wall for many years.

“…rewriting is the essence of writing.”
–William Zinsser

“God has bigger plans for you than you could ever imagine for yourself.”
–Oprah Winfrey

“Life is terrific.”
–Random sticker in the laundry room

3. I drink lots of coffee. If I don’t I become very grumpy, especially in the morning.

4. My very first blush purchase was MAC Blushbaby in 2005.

5. I believe everyone should have a theme song! Your theme song can change depending on where you are in life or what you need at the moment. Currently mine is Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder.”

6. I write travel articles, and if you’ve recently taken a cruise to Hawaii on one of the major cruise lines (Princess, Norweigan Cruise Lines) you might’ve read the hardcover book in your cabin with different stories on things to do and places to see in Hawaii. There’s a high probability of you reading something I wrote!

7. I like buying accessories, especially earrings, bracelets and hats.

A few weeks ago the lovely Joy from Makeup Junkie in Canada tagged me! This game is a fun way to learn random things about your friends in the beauty blogosphere. The gist of it is if you’re tagged you post seven random things about yourself and you tag other bloggers who then post sever random things about themselves.

You might’ve noticed that I always like to do things a little different here at Makeup and Beauty Blog. So, if you were nice enough to read through the seven random facts above then please leave me seven random facts about yourself in the comments below. I wanna get to know you better!

How has your Monday been so far? My coffee is finally kicking in (yes, it’s 11:00) and I’m starting to feel like all the pistons are firing. YES! I hope you are that you’re lookin’ cute and feeling great on this lovely day!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen