Recently in Brows Category

My mom had heard from a client -who heard from a friend, that the guru of all things eyebrows, -Zoey, from the infamous Anastasia Salon- had up and started her own salon in lovely Pasadena, California (less than 30 minutes from downtown LA) on March 25 of this year. While I was unconvinced that spending $10 more than what I usually pay would be worth a few (more or less) hairs- my mother argued otherwise. So I gave in, and once again...mom was right.

......Click the link below for Before and After pics!

1. Prep and protect your skin
Even if you’re in a hurry, it’s still important to apply a facial cream with SPF and an undereye cream. This will help to protect your skin as well as providing a great base for makeup. Daily Moisturizer with SPF from the L’Oreal Skin Genesis line is a good lotion with SPF and anti-aging properties.
Oil of Olay Definity Eye Illuminator is an amazing undereye cream that helps to diminish dark circles and illuminate the eye area.

Another great time-saver is tinted moisturizers. Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 15 , will give you a beautiful, luminous finish.

Holy beauty heaven!! Looks like Santa has done his market research and created the most awesome beauty set the world has ever seen! I mean, who wouldn't want a luxurious pink leather trunk filled with everything you could possibly want from Bobbi Brown? It's like going to the Bobbi Brown counter and taking home their entire display (but brand new and unused of course). If someone bought this for me for Christmas, I would be a very very happy wife (hint hint). I feel like a little kid in a toy store looking at this, it makes me all anxious with giddiness and desire. I would go home and play with it for hours and get really mad if someone even remotely look at it much less touch it. There is a total of 60 items, including foundation, brushes, eyeshadows, blushes, bronzers, lip glosses, lash curler, mascara, make up remover, moisturizer, eye cream, the list goes on. Exclusively for Neiman Marcus, you can get this whole thing for $2000.

The entire list of contents in this make up trunk is after the jump.

I am currently obsessed with the Skin Deep Website, a safety guide to cosmetics and personal care products from researchers at the Environmental Working Group. I have been on it all weekend looking up every brand in my bathroom, it was shocking how many items in my bathroom are rated "high toxicity" and that may cause cancer, render me infertile amongst many other scary hazards! Go through the site and search for your favorite products to see what you come up with. I could not find my favorite luxury brands such as La Prarie, Natura Bisse, Sisley or La Mer on the site, hopefully it is because their products are tested extensively to avoid causing hazard? (or maybe they were too expensive for the scientists to buy and test?).

There seems to be a pattern of beauty companies across the board with body lotions being listed as highly toxic even if their other products are of low or no risk (For example, Skinceuticals C&E ferulic is safe but the Skin Firming Body Cream is a high hazard- I am throwing mine in the trash tonight!). In fact, I am so freaked out that I have decided to use my son's baby products from California Baby (rated 0- low hazard) on my body until further notice. I am not one to scare easily and often ignore the urban legends of lipstick accumulating in the stomach etc but this really got my attention! Of course I will do more sleuthing with doctors in order to validate the site's claims, let me know what you beauties come up with.

Here's a thought, perhaps the reason Aveda products tested so high for toxicity is because they do not do any testing on lab rats....

I always have so much fun browsing my own beauty stash. I find things still packed in the box all the time, it's like getting to shop all over again without having to pay again! The reason I forget to use so many things is because I have lost 50% of my brain cells since giving birth (am concerned with the next one, I may not remember my own name!) and because I am always busy working (I am! I swear!). Anyway, I put my son to bed at 8pm tonight and started poking around my bathroom for stuff to give away (I give away A LOT of beauty products, how else am I going to keep buying more?) and I happened upon a tube of Brow Extender from Talika.

First of all, I don't even recall buying this let alone using it so I took it out of the box and started playing around with it. It's shaped like a marker with a twist on one end and a plastic brush on the other that pumps out a brow gel filled with tiny hair like fibers. I brushed some on my brows, it was kind of gooey but within a minute it dried and it looked like I had the brows I had back in high school! Thick and full! Not only that, it also extended my brows by at least a quarter inch (which I sadly need, my brows are dark and full but unfortunately short). There were a few tiny little fibers left around the brow area that wiped off easily with a Q tip but other than that, it was totally mess free! You can throw out your eyebrow pencils, brushes and whatnots my beauties! You have no idea how excited I was to discover this amazing product right in my own bathroom! You would have thought I found a million dollars or something, I was dancing around and called all my girlfriends to share which irritated my husband to no end cuz I am supposed to pay attention to him when he comes home or something like that (see, I can't even remember my wifely duties). $33 at Spa Look (Get a Get a free Talika Mini Eyelash Curler & cosmetic bag with your next $30 Talika purchase!
). See lush brows from Gucci Westman of Lancome on the runway after the jump!