May 20, 2012

I love the Doctor Oz Show, and record it every day like clockwork. I always learn something from it. It might be a supplement I never heard of, a medical issue to be aware of, or a new beauty product I need to try.

About a month ago, I saw a Doctor Oz segment on ancient skin secrets from other cultures. His guest was Shalini Vadhera, who has written a book called Passport to Beauty. Two of Ms. Vadhera’s treatments intrigued me.

One was a Korean rice water treatment to fade brown spots. I haven’t tried that one yet, but I will. Even with sunscreen, I still end up with brown spots on my face, mostly on my upper cheekbones just outside the protection of my sunglasses.

The other treatment that caught my attention is called the Indian Bridal Glow Mask. Indian women use it on their face and body to make their skin smooth, bright and soft for their wedding day. It sounds pretty simple.

Just mix 1 cup of chickpea flour with 3 tablespoons of turmeric, and add enough almond oil to make a paste. The chickpea flour absorbs oil, the almond oil moisturizes, and the turmeric is anti-inflammatory and antiseptic.

The directions are to apply the paste to your face and let it sit for a few minutes. Instead of just removing it with a washcloth, you rub it off with your hands to exfoliate, which also is supposed to take off some of the peach fuzz that most of us have on our cheeks.

I finally tried the Indian Bridal Glow Mask today, and am pleased to report that it was surprisingly effective. Dare I say it was incredible even?

My skin feels softer and smoother than I can ever remember it being, even after using my favorite exfoliator; the amazing Exfolikate by Kate Somervell. I only have a small sample size tube of Exfolikate from a New Beauty Test Tube a while back, but if I bought a small 2-ounce size tube it would cost me $85! (PS: if you aren’t getting the Test Tubes, you HAVE to do it! You will thank me.)

So, I could spend $85 for 2 ounces of a fabulous professional exfoliation product, or I can spend a couple of dollars on simple ingredients that I might already have in the house (which I did). Which is more appealing?

I can tell you I’d spend that $85 if I had to in order to get great skin, but if I don’t have to, I’m spending that $85 on something fun, like shoes, workout clothes, craft supplies, a kitchen gadget, or anything pink.

Back to the Indian Bridal Glow Mask. I just used it on my face, and saw amazing exfoliation. My pores look smaller, my skin texture is smooth, and there is absolutely zero irritation. Lots of heavy-duty scrubs and masks can leave behind redness, and inflamed delicate areas that can start to peel in a day or two. That is not the case with this mask.

I didn’t see a complete removal of  peach fuzz, but I think some of it is gone. The demonstration on Doctor Oz showed that the mask was drier than mine was, and when it was rubbed off, it actually came off in blobs. Mine was creamier than that, so the exfoliation was probably milder on my skin. I didn’t feel that I added too much oil though; just enough to make a peanut butter consistency paste.

I have lots of the mask left, so I put it in a glass jar to save in the fridge until I do the next treatment in a week. I think it should be ok. If not, then next time I’ll decrease the batch by about 75%.

One huge word of caution about this mask: BE CAREFUL! I cannot tell you how messy this concoction is! The turmeric will stain everything it comes in contact with. I’m not using the mask on my body as suggested, since the turmeric would absolutely instantly cause a huge yellow stain in the shower that I don’t want to imagine.

I recommend mixing the mask in a plastic or paper bowl with a plastic spoon so you can throw it all away. When I was rubbing the mask off and wiping the residue off with wet paper towels, I had a couple of layers of paper towel in the sink to catch any drips. Otherwise I would have been scrubbing a yellow sink for a while.

Make sure you wear gloves when you work with the mask. It will stain your fingers and fingernails. Strangely enough, it didn’t stain my face at all. Not sure why, but it didn’t.

I’ll use this mask again next week, and might let it sit on my skin a little longer to dry out more. I may get a photo of it actually on my face…it’s pretty scary looking!

I highly recommend this treatment and am really excited about it! I love that it was effective, inexpensive, and completely natural, and I can’t wait to try the Korean Rice Water Treatment next. I think that Shalini Vadhera just might be on to something!

~BigSis

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March 3, 2012

I love BigSis’ tutorial on Depotting the MAC Eye Shadows! Since my shadow collection is very similar to hers, with just over 50 of the adorable little pots, I’m going to try to find some time to depot mine soon.

My makeup drawers have become annoyingly messy, so I’m working on a little reorganizing project that I’ll be sharing with you soon.

Here’s what my MAC shadow drawer looks like now.

As long as we’re talking about MAC, I thought it would be fun to share with everyone a couple of my new favorite MAC products.

BigSis gave me a MAC gift certificate for Christmas and I had just run completely out of my eye cream, so I decided to give MAC’s Fast Response Eye Cream a try.

Here’s what MAC says about their Fast Response Eye Cream:

The super-charged, caffeinated cream with instant effects. De-puffs, erases the look of dark circles, firms, soothes and softens skin around the eye. Special optics act like magic to fade away lines.

Sounds good, huh? Since this eye cream is caffeinated, I use it first thing in the morning and I use a different one at night. So far, I’m happy with the results I see from this Fast Response Eye Creme.

I’ve noticed some firming around the outside of my eyes and it definitely helps with the morning puffiness, which I seem to have almost every morning these days. And, most importantly, this eye cream doesn’t leave my under eye area dry so my concealer still glides on nicely on top of it.

Another MAC product that I’ve been using for awhile that I really love is MAC Mineralize SkinFinish Natural.

I used MAC’s loose powder for years and besides the fact that it didn’t last long enough, they made the container smaller so I stopped buying it.  For $29.00 versus the $23.00 for the loose powder, the Mineralize SkinFinish Natural compact is a much better bargain because it lasts so much longer.

It doesn’t take much of this product to get nice coverage. I just swipe my big powder brush over it a couple of times and the powder goes on in a really nice matte finish. It evens out my skin tone so much better than the loose powder. There are about nine shades to choose from so there’s something for everyone. My shade right now is Medium Dark and I love it! If you aren’t happy with what you’re using now, I would highly recommend giving this a try!

Even though I don’t have quite the collection of empties that BigSis has now, I just discovered that I have six empties so it’s time to head to the MAC counter to pick out a new lipstick.

If there are any other MAC fanatics out there that have a new favorite product or a favorite eyeshadow or lipstick shade that they’d like to share, we would love to hear from you!

~LilSis

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February 24, 2012

MAC eye shadows are like frisky little bunnies in my makeup drawer…they multiply! I knew that space in my drawer was getting pretty tight, but I was surprised to count over 50 wee shadow bunnies hiding in there.

I don’t mind having that many, in fact I kind of love having a bunch to be honest. It’s a fun little indulgence that isn’t that expensive, and it’s just good clean fun to add a new shadow to my collection.

The problem is it’s pretty impossible to remember what colors are hiding in the stack. And at 6 AM it takes more time than I have to dig around in the pile looking for that gray I think I have. The time had clearly come to depot my MAC eye shadow collection. To the Google we go for instruction! To the Google!

I found lots and lots of tutorials – both video and text – on depotting eye shadows of all brands, especially MAC. Some folks like to bake the pots in a low oven, some prefer waving a candle or butane lighter underneath the pot, and others use a clothing iron to toast the bottom of the pot. The method I chose was using a hair flat iron because it seemed the simplest and safest.

Before you get started, please heed my very serious warning…BE CAREFUL with this project! You’re using two super dangerous weapons: a sharp knife and a hot iron. I’m a self-confessed klutz, and I just barely managed to avoid burning off a finger or all my hair.

However, I did stab myself lightly a few times and came close to really hurting myself until I figured out how to manage this process more gracefully. It reminds me of using one of those treacherous oyster knives to open an oyster shell, but you aren’t wearing those big thick protective gloves to depot shadows. So please be careful!

All you need for the flat iron method is:

• a flat iron
• a small piece of parchment paper to protect the iron from melty plastic
• a sharp thin knife
• a soft towel to use as a work surface
• 3/4″ labels
• 3/4″ thin magnets
• reading glasses to see what you’re doing if you’re 40-plus like me

The first step is to get the plastic insert that holds the MAC pan out of the plastic case. This is the part where I was the biggest threat to my own life. What you want to do is wedge the tip of the knife in-between the plastic insert and the case, and pop the insert out. It’s easiest to do that near the back hinge where the lid connects to the bottom part of the case.

Once the insert is out, place it face up on the parchment on the flat iron. I had my iron heated to around 370 degrees.

Once you get your rhythm going, you can do two at a time.

These guys are waiting their turn on the iron. That Barbie line was so awesome!

Carefully lift the insert off the iron after 20 seconds or so, and check to see if the bottom of the insert is starting to soften. You’re looking for a little dent in the middle of the insert.

Once you see that, you can poke at the hole with the tip of the knife and try to gently pop out the eye shadow pan onto the towel. If the plastic is still too hard to do that, place it back onto the iron for a few more seconds. Keep checking it until the pan releases.

The pan is going to be really warm now, so again be careful. I snap the melty insert back into the case, and then put it aside. If you left it on the iron until it got warped, you might have a little trouble getting it snapped back into the case.

While the pan is still upside down, I like to place a self-adhesive 3/4″ magnet onto it. The warm glue on the back of the pan will also help it adhere.

Some people clean the back of the pan with q-tips and alcohol or makeup remover before adding a magnet, but I didn’t think it was necessary. If there’s a lot of glue and it seems like a big task to remove it all, you can rub a little baby powder over the cooled glue with your finger to neutralize the stickiness.

Some of the tutorials I read suggested removing the original MAC label from the bottom of the case and attaching it to the pan. I tried that but didn’t love the result.

The only thin magnets I found were 3/4″ and the original label is more like 1″ so there was a little awkward overhang. I also am not a huge fan of the black label because it’s a bit hard to read, and if you’ve had the shadow for a while the label might be faded or worn, making it even harder to read.

What I used was a 3/4″ adhesive label from Avery. I had red so that’s what I used. I think white would get grubby really quickly anyway.

You could hand-print the labels, but I like to laser-print them. They look really nice, but I also love that I have the label stored in my computer so if I ever want to replace a dirty label I print a clean one off in a jiffy. The Word document is also a nice little database of my shadows.  Yes, I am a little OCD, thanks for asking.

I just peeled the laser-printed label off the sheet and attached it to the magnet on the pan.

That’s it.  Rinse and repeat a few dozen times til all the kids are depotted!

Once you have all the pans depotted and labeled, you need a palette to put them in. I bought 3 MAC palettes that were supposed to hold 15 shadows, but I pried the insert out and made room for 10 more shadows. I was a little impatient though, and just used a butter knife on my nice new palettes, and ended up scratching them a little. Oops! You’ll be more careful than I was!

I since found out about another option called the Z Palette, which I might try next. The appeal of the Z Palette for me is that the lid is clear so you can easily see the colors inside. The downside is that some reviewers mentioned that the construction of the palette could be more sturdy.

After a little bit of time, my space-consuming collection was transformed into this neat compact stack that makes me very happy:

 This palette has all warm colors.

This one has all cool colors. 

This one has grays, duplicate backups of favorite limited edition colors, and some random brights with room to add more.

I had these guys leftover after the project:

It might look like a pile of junk on its way to the recycling bin, but no! This pile is headed to the Back to Mac program. For every 6 empties you turn into a MAC counter or online, you get a free lipstick. If you return them to a MAC store though, you can choose an eye shadow or a lipstick. These empties will allow me to bring home 9 more new shadows for free! Wheee!!

Now I’m on a roll with a mission to depot all of my shadows. Next project: depot the few LaFemme and Stila shadows I have, and liberate all the other random pans whose packaging is taking up way too much room!

~BigSis

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September 18, 2011

One of my best buds, Patty, recently turned me on to these Kiss Fashion Toenails and I’m happy that she did because if she hadn’t, I never would have bought them. I never was a fan of the old Lee Press On Nails because they didn’t even look remotely natural to me.

When I first saw these nails on Patty, I thought her toes looked great and I was just about to ask her if she treated herself to a french pedicure, but she was so excited about her “find” that before I could even ask the question, she burst out with “Didn’t you notice my toes?”  :-)

BigSis and I both have always been pretty fanatical about maintaining a nice pedicure. I can’t even wear clear polish on my fingernails because of my job, but I never go without color on my toenails. My sister has always done her own pedicures and they look great, but I’ve never, ever been able to paint my toes nicely.

I usually treat myself to a cheap pedicure at a local salon about every 6 weeks or so and I just touch them up in-between appointments. And, in the summer time, I keep acrylics on my big toes for several different reasons. For $25.00, it’s well worth it to me because I kill too birds with one stone since I get to sit in one of those amazing massage chairs while getting my pedi. It’s a great stress buster for me.

Anyway, lack of time and money has kept me out of the nail salon for WAY too long and this is how bad my pedicure looked before I tried these nails. You can tell that I lost the acrylic on the right big toe and tried to camouflage it, but it still looks horrible.  I should be humiliated to show this “before” photo, but just tryin’ to keep it real.

Maybe I like having a nice pedicure because it makes the ugly toes look a little better!

At Wal-Mart or CVS, you’ll find the Kiss toenails for only $6.99 and you get a box of nails with a great selection of sizes, the glue, and a nail file, in case you want to file them down more. I was a little skeptical about being able to find a size to fit each weird shaped toenail and my big toes but since it says right on the box ‘Guaranteed to fit all’, I figured I had nothing to lose by trying them.

I was pleasantly surprised with how easy these were to put on and with the way they turned out. I guess press on nails have come a long way because these Kiss fashion toenails really do look pretty darn close to a professional french pedicure.

Not too bad, huh?

This first set that I tried was the short version but the next box that I bought were the super short ones and I liked those even better.

And here are Patty’s cute little toes.

And for any of you who may have suffered an unfortunate trauma to a toe or perhaps undergone a hammer toe surgery with complications and permanent loss of a toenail, as Patty did, these nails can be glued right to the missing nail bed.  It’s a fantastic fix and no one would ever guess!  See, you can’t even tell which one of Patty’s toes is really missing the toenail.

These are super easy and super fast to put on so if you ever find yourself needing a quick pedicure and don’t have the time to get to the salon, you might want to give these Kiss fashion toenails a try! And, I’d love to hear what you think if you try them.

My only advice is to remove these the proper way, as instructed. Don’t get impatient like I did and just rip them off; that leaves the real nail a little damaged.

~LilSis

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July 15, 2011

photo credit: mommamia on flickr

Summer has been my favorite season for about as long as I can remember, but I wouldn’t say that I’m a sun worshiper, or anything that extreme. I just enjoy any time that I have where I can get out in the sun, even if it’s just for a walk, a bike ride, or sitting outside reading for an hour. And, I always feel a little more cheerful after spending any amount of time out in the sunshine!

Not that it’s likely it’ll happen anytime soon, but, if I ever did have a lazy Summer day where I had no responsibilities and could do whatever I wanted; I would spend the entire day in a lounge chair with a good book and my iPod; either at the beach or poolside.

Photo credit: sollis.se

As much as I would love to slather myself in red label Hawaiian Tropic Coconut Oil because it reminds me of those long-gone, carefree, teenage days with friends at the lake or by the pool, I do keep sunscreen on at all times.

We’ve got Native American Indian in our blood, so I’m lucky that I tan easy and rarely burn. I’ve also never have had any type of skin cancer, which is pretty amazing considering that when I was younger, I would lay out for the entire day covered in tanning oil!

And, yes, I’ll admit it, my friends and I did try the baby oil and iodine combo. My only excuse for that is that we didn’t know any better and back in those days no one even talked about sun damage from ultraviolet rays. Now that we do know better, we just need to make sure that our kids don’t fry themselves like some of us used to do on a regular basis.

A lot of people, including my hubby, haven’t been as lucky when it comes to sun damage and skin cancers. His family has the Irish skin with fair complexions that freckles and burns easily. When he was young, they spent a lot of time of the lake and he would get so sunburned that his skin would blister. Most doctors agree that the skin cancers we have now were caused by sun damage we experienced when we were younger. A lot of my hubby’s relatives, like him, have experienced serious cases of skin cancer, including melanoma.

We’ve talked quite a bit about sun damage and sunscreens here on BigSisLilSis since both BigSis and I are passionate about the issue. I have to stay on top of my hubby and my son every single day to make sure that they have on their sunscreen. Since HayHay surfs for hours at a time, it’s crucial for him to wear the best sunscreen that we can find.

Summer is in full swing now that we’re in mid-July so I thought this would be a good time to do a recap of some of our previous posts about sunscreen and sun damage.

• The very best waterproof sunscreen that we’ve found is Vertra, which is what HayHay wears now when surfing. I talked about Vertra and some other great Summer products in this Top 15 Summer Beauty Products post.

• My hubby used to wear the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch but now his favorite is the Neutrogena Sport Face, which doesn’t sweat off and burn his eyes. I mentioned both of these and a few others when I talked about Skin cancer and sunscreen.

• BigSis shared some of her favorite sunscreens in this More Sunscreen Favorites post.

• I also talked last June about the Top Four Sunscreen According to Consumer Reports.

• BigSis shared these 7 Tips for Sunburn Relief for those who may accidentally find themselves with a bad sunburn.

We hope everyone is having a great Summer so far; but whatever you do, please don’t forget your sunscreen!

~LilSis

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May 13, 2011

Step into Spring with this fun new color!

I just received an email from Clarisonic about their new tangerine Clarisonic Mia; so now you can choose from ten gorgeous colors; including yellow, pink, turquoise, blue, garnet, and more!  If you’re going to use this wonderful little cleansing system every day, you might as well get one in your favorite color, right?

I haven’t talked about the results I’ve seen from using my Clarisonic Mia, so I thought this would be a good time since I’ve been using it regularly for about four months now.

They don’t have a photo of my Mia on the Clarisonic site any more since it was a limited edition, so here’s a photo of my cute, little Mia.

If you love the design on this one, you can still buy the CLARISONIC Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System, Limited Edition Hope is Beautiful from Amazon for $129.99.

BigSis talked about the results she saw from using her Clarisonic back in January of last year. I still wasn’t able to justify the initial investment at that time, but after she talked about the Pink Clarisonic in October of last year, I decided since she was so happy with her results, it was definitely worth me giving it a try.

I was really very lucky and never had skin problems as a teenager or through my 20s and 30s. I admit that I was even quite lazy taking care of my skin through my 20s but when I turned 30, I decided that it was time to take better care of it. Since then, I’ve been religious about taking off my makeup at night and using eye creams, night creams and day time moisturizers to try to take care of my somewhat dry skin.

I guess you can say that I’ve still been a little lazy because I’ve been using the Olay cleansing wipes to take off my eye makeup and to wash my face. During these “pre-menopausal”, very “hormonal” last few years, I’ve had monthly breakouts that I’ve never experienced in my entire life! So, what I was doing obviously wasn’t working and that’s when I decided to buy myself a Clarisonic.

Neither of us are getting paid to endorse this product, but when we find something that works for women our age, we love to share it with everyone. I use mine once a day, at night, and you can still use your favorite cleanser like I do, instead of the Clarisonic cleanser and it works just as well.

Here are a few things that I noticed within a very short time using my Mia:

• Less breakouts immediately and now very rare breakouts!
• Pores appear smaller.
• Skin seems tighter and feels smoother.

This cleansing system has made more difference in my skin than I could have imagined. I wish that I hadn’t waited so long to buy myself one but I’m happy that I finally did. If you have any issues at all and want to improve the look and cleanliness of your skin, we both highly recommend the Clarisonic!  :-)

~LilSis

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May 1, 2011

Hurray!  I finally found it after almost a year of searching…the perfect eye make-up remover!  It’s oil-free, cruelty-free, and super-effective yet extremely gentle thanks to the aloe, chamomile and cucumber.

What is it?  It’s Philosophy Just Release Me.

One of the things I love about Philosophy is their sense of humor. Here’s the story from the bottle of Just Release Me:

“from caked on to baked on, from lid lock to grid lock, from dressed up to stressed out, from high shoes to win-lose, from run fast to slow down, it’s time to release your eye makeup and set your sights free”

Cute, huh?  I like it already!

Just Release Me reminds me a lot of my old long-time favorite eye makeup remover; Lancome Bi-Facil, which I dropped like a hot potato when I banned animal-tested products from my home last summer.

Both of these removers are oil-free, dual-phase and look the same in the bottle: thin blue liquid separated in two layers that need to be shaken before using to blend together.

Both removers quickly remove all traces of makeup – even loads of mascara – without pulling or rubbing delicate under-eye skin, and without losing any eyelashes.

I’ve used both of these products in the same manner, with great results.  I wet a cotton round with hot water and squeeze out most of the water, then add a dab of remover.  I hold the cotton round over my eye for a few seconds, and then gently wipe away all of the remaining makeup, turning the pad over if necessary to finish up.

What’s different between the two?  Just Release Me is $18 for 6 ounces ($3 per ounce), and Bi-Facil is $26 for 4.2 ounces ($6.19 per ounce).  That’s more than double the price!

And the biggie that I already mentioned is that Lancome animal tests and Philosophy does not.  That’s more than big…it’s huge.

Just Release Me is currently sold out on the Philosophy web site, but it’s in stock at Drugstore.com, Sephora and at Ulta, which is where I got mine.

Philosophy does not animal test, but they are not a vegan company.  If you’re ok with that, then Just Release Me may be the eye makeup remover for you!

~BigSis

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February 26, 2011

At age 52, I finally got my first Botox.  I had needed it for a long time, since my crows feet were pretty bad.  I was procrastinating because…well, I don’t know why I put it off.  I obviously shouldn’t have!  Just take a look for yourself.

Sagginess…

crepiness…

and wrinkles.  Oh, my!

Wow!  I skerd myself!  In defense of my poor eyes though, I do have to say these “before” photos were taken after I got a makeover from a makeup artist.  I had masses of concealer and powder piled up under my eyes which accentuated the wrinkles. They were still my wrinkles – I have to own up to them – but they were looking especially heinous with all that makeup gooped upon them.

Also notice the skimpy eyelashes.  My lashes aren’t uber-short, but they definitely lacked fullness, and a little extra length would be nice.

I absolutely noticed the wrinkles, sags, bags and crepey skin every time I looked in the mirror, and finally addressed it with a very conservative bit of Botox in early December.  I actually wished my doctor had been slightly more aggressive with it, but it’s a start and I think it absolutely helped.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t have waited so long for my first foray into Botoxland.  It was relatively inexpensive, and the procedure was a piece of cake.

There were 3 tiny – I mean tiny - little needle pricks around each eye.  I’m not freaked out by needles, but even if you are, I still think this process is really non-threatening. Just don’t look when the needles come out to play.  :-D  It was totally worth it to me, and I’ll keep doing it as long as there is no revelation about Botox causing cancer or something equally disturbing.

While I was at the doctor’s office, I also talked to a rep for Allergan, the company who makes Latisse.  They were offering a $100 rebate on the product, which pretty much paid to fill the first prescription.  Insurance doesn’t cover Latisse, of course, since it’s a cosmetic item.

My first prescription for Latisse cost me about $114, and was supposed to cover 30 days’ application of the product.  Instead of one drop per eye per night though, the nurse in my doctor’s office suggested that one drop shared between both eyes is plenty. That’s how I’ve been using it, and that first round of Latisse is just now almost gone nearly 3 months later.  That works out to less than $1 a day.

I’m not a doctor so I can’t recommend that you use Latisse as I did, but I can tell you what I did and that the shared drop per night seemed to be adequate for me.  I think that using one drop per eye would have been wasteful overkill with dripping excess to wipe away.

I haven’t had any side effects from Latisse, but you should consider them before you try it. The most-publicized potential issue is that light brown, green or hazel eyes can permanently change to a darker brown.  From what I understand, that is only a rare risk when Latisse is used to treat glaucoma, which involves using the product in the eye, not on the skin around it.

That explains what I did.  So how do those scary eyes look now after a little Botox here…

and there…

and some Latisse each night?

These aren’t 20 year old eyes, but I’m not 20.  These eyes have seen things and been through things, and they’re entitled to a few earned war wounds.  Maturity isn’t an easy road, and getting there can leave a little evidence of the journey, right?

They’re still my 52 year old eyes, but they’re not quite as scary as before.  These “after” photos were taken with no concealer, foundation or powder, so you can still see little imperfections like brown spots, but you don’t see the previous horror.  Hurray!

In these photos I had about 8 weeks of Latisse behind me, and the full effect is supposedly reached at 16 weeks.  At 4 weeks, I could already see longer lashes, and now they are thicker as well.

If you ask me if Botox reduces wrinkles, I say absolutely ‘yes’. And if you wonder if Latisse really works and grows longer and thicker eyelashes, I say ‘yes’ again.  I don’t foresee ever getting a facelift, but I’ll keep doing these little tweaks because they work. To me they’re no-brainers.  There’s no cutting, no downtime, and the expense isn’t prohibitive.  It feels good to be doing a little something to fend off the ravages of time, but still look like me.

Now I need to tweak those brown spots…

~BigSis

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February 24, 2011

Just ask us where we’re from and we’ll tell ya! The Texan way to answer, though, is “I’m Texan; born and raised!”

I’ve lived in Southern California for almost nine years and that’s a question that I still hear every day! (I guess I’ll never get rid of my “twang”.)

Even though I don’t live there any more, I’ll always be a Texan in every way; so that’s why I have to give a shout out to OPI for this awesome Spring 2011 Texas Collection!

These colors are amazing and even though OPI always has unique names for their colors, I thought these were especially creative, even though they did leave out our “Big D.”

• Austin-tatious Turquoise
• Do You Think I’m Texy?
• Don’t Mess with OPI
• Guy Meets Gal-veston
• I Want to Be A-Lone Star
• Big Hair- Big Nails
• It’s Totally Fort Worth It
• Y’all Come Back Ya Hear?
• San Tan-Tonio
• Too Hot Pink Too Hold ‘Em
• Houston We Have a Purple
• Suzi Loves Cowboys

If you would love to have the entire collection at a reduced price, and if you act fast, Amazon has the OPI Nail Texas Collection 12 bottles for a limited time.

I’ve always had a “thang” for orange colors, especially on my toes, so I think the first one I’m gonna try is Y’all Come Back Ya Hear?

~LilSis

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January 9, 2011

A couple of months ago, I gave up my long-time favorite mascara – Loreal Voluminous – because it was animal-tested.  I went on a search for a new awesome product and reviewed four mascaras that disappointed me: Smashbox Hyper Lash, Tarte Lights Camera Lashes, Revlon 3D Extreme and MAC Zoom Lash.

Since then, the mascara search has continued with these three prospects:

Physicians Formula Organic Mascara ($9.95 retail)

• This mascara is said to be 100% free of harsh chemicals, synthetic preservatives, parabens, clumping, smudging, flaking, fibers and dyes.  It is also supposed to provide 5x Lash Boosting for lash length, volume and definition naturally, with a 100% recyclable “Eco-Brush” that claims to define each lash with ultra-soft plastic bristles.

• Did it deliver on all those claims?  Ehhh.  It was ok.  I didn’t take it back to the store, and actually used it several times.  I did get a little flaking, but not a terrible amount, and it removed very easily at night.

• My main beef with this mascara is that the look it provides is too natural for me.  As I mentioned in my previous review, I’m looking for volume and curl-retention.  I didn’t get deal-killing clumping with this mascara, but I didn’t get the volume I crave either.  I also wasn’t a big fan of the plastic brush.

Josie Maran GOGO Instant Natural Volume Argan Mascara ($22 retail)

• I really wanted to love this mascara since Jose Maran Cosmetics donates one mascara to a City of Hope cancer patient for each GOGO (Get One Give One) mascara purchased.

• It claims to deliver full, longwearing, clump-free, water-resistant definition and to evenly build thickness and smoothness, delivering a full fringe of blacker-than-black lashes with dewy shine. It also includes Argan Oil which is supposed to condition and support hair growth for lush, supple, healthy lashes.

• So did this mascara walk the walk?  Sadly, no.  I tried it twice, and had to take it back to the store.  It clumped horribly, no matter how thoroughly I tried to wipe off the excess on the neck of the tube.  Besides that, the brush was enormous to the extent that it was unwieldy, and I found it nearly impossible to apply the product to my lower lashes without also applying it under my eyes.

• For the price, I had high expectations for Jose Maran’s mascara, especially when it came highly recommended by the Sephora sales rep.  The only thing I liked about this mascara is the GOGO program, so back it went.

Mally Beauty Volumizing Mascara ($20 retail) (QVC 2/pk $28)

• I happened to randomly catch Mally Beauty on QVC, and liked her energy and was sold on a kit that included her Volumizing Mascara.  Mally claims that this mascara helps create the look of gorgeous, full, luxurious lashes with a combination of natural waxes and carefully chosen powders. It comes with a plush brush that is said to work with the powders in the formula to help thicken lashes without clumping and give you gorgeous volume that lasts.

• Was I disappointed yet again?  NO! You read that right…I wasn’t disappointed with Mally’s Volumizing Mascara! I actually tried a mascara that I like!

• Mally Volumizing Mascara gives me volume, curl and definition.  It doesn’t smudge, flakes only a teensy bit (which mascara doesn’t, frankly), and is easy to remove at the end of the day.  I will absolutely reorder this mascara in the QVC 2-pack.

• For now, my mascara search is over.  I can’t say that I won’t try another hyped-up mascara that crosses my path, but for now, I’m thrilled to have found one that I’m happy to use every morning.

Next up, I have some fun new vegan products lined up on my bathroom counter, waiting to be tried out.  I have Lip Tar from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics and three loose Sugarpill eyeshadows.  Can a 40-plus woman pull off these vibrant young colors?  We’re about to find out! 

photo credit: kitty nancy

~BigSis

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