Typeless Tuesday - Belly Balm

In the same vein as Wordless Wednesday, I bring you Typeless Tuesday as I have carpel tunnel and am trying to keep typing to a minimum. Instead, I'll just be posting pics with links 'til further notice. The lurrrve is implied:)



Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Balm, $14.99.

Handsy

This is a product I can personally vouch for. It's Dr. Hauschka Hand Cream, and it's fantastic.

It's also pretty expensive, at $22.95 for a 1.7-oz. tube.

But! It's not tested on animals, is all organic, and--this is why I love it so dearly--you can put it on your hands, and it immediately soaks in without leaving your hands greasy. So if you sit at a computer all day like I do, you can put it on and not have to wait 10 minutes for your hands to stop sliding all over your keyboard.

I might call it the perfect hand cream, but I'll wait for it to go on sale before I go that far.

UPDATE: OK, so I've had this stuff for about a month now, and I'm officially hooked. I've decided it's worth the price, and when my tube is all used up (which is taking a lot longer than I thought; you don't have to use much of this stuff at a time), I'm definitely going to buy a new one.

A Pimple Plan

I'm big on protecting my skin and staving off wrinkles, but don't want to spend a fortune if I don't have to (those Dateline segments made me totally paranoid).

My dermatologist suggested drugstore brands such as Aveeno and Neutrogena for skin, and Almay for make-up. I've tried Almay's eyeliner and wasn't a huge fan, but I'm all about shopping at Target for skincare. Here's what's in my medicine cabinet:

Aveeno Clear Complexion Cream Cleanser


Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF30


Aveeno Continuous Protection Sunblock Spray SPF45


Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Intensive Night Cream


Neutrogena Make-Up Remover Cleansing Towelettes


So far, I'm happy with the results. Which drugstore brands do you lurrrve?

Everyone deserves a second chance, right?

I tried Bare Escentuals a few years ago when I first heard about mineral makeup. I liked it, but the girl at the store who "helped" me match the foundation to my skin color did a terrible job, and I ended up buying a foundation that was probably two shades too dark--which meant I could only use it in the summertime, when I didn't wear much makeup anyway. Then, the kabuki brush I'd bought to apply the makeup fell apart. I wasn't exactly a fan of mineral makeup, and I finally tossed that original foundation after it sat in my makeup bag for a year without being touched.

Fast-forward to 2008, and I'm giving it a second chance. A few months ago I interviewed Leslie Blodgett, the company's CEO, and she was amazing. Plus, her skin (and her PR manager's skin) looked incredible. Then, my boss started using Bare Escentuals, and while I've always thought she had great skin (she takes good care of it), she was raving about the makeup and had made some serious investments in it. As editors of a women's magazine, we get sent makeup samples all the time, and we're rarely loyal to one brand, so for my boss to be using almost exclusively one line of makeup is kind of a big deal. (Kelly was especially coveting this kit with the special brush.)

This weekend, I decided to give Bare Escentuals another shot--I went out and bought the Getting Started kit (available here on the BE web site with a few extras for $75; the kit I bought was $60 at Sephora). The kit came with a DVD for application tips, which I watched yesterday for a little refresher on the swirl-tap-buff method of mineral makeup applications.


Today is Day No. 1 with my new makeup, and aside from going a little overboard with my application of the warmth all-over face color, I was surprisingly pleased with the results. The brushes seem to be of much higher quality than the one I bought a few years back. I even went without the one product I never, ever leave the house without (because it's not a true test-drive if I don't at least try BE as a concealer)--my Alison Raffaele concealer (which I still highly recommend).

I'll be continuing my test drive of my new Bare Escentuals products for the next few months, and I'll keep you posted on whether I can tell that my skin is healing (I battle adult acne and usually lose). I'm not quite ready to invest further in Bare Escentuals, but I must say, the overnight Rare Minerals skin revival treatment has me curious.

Eye lurrrve

I'm 29 years-old and still get carded for beer, cigarettes, lottery tickets...

It's awesome. And I attribute this all to Kiehl's. I've used their eye cream for seven years. I started with their Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado but have since switched to their Abyssine Eye Cream. It's virtually weightless yet incredibly moisturizing. And when you buy a product from the Kiehl's website, they let you choose any three samples to be shipped with your purchase. I've had some of their samples last a week, which makes for a fair trial period and great value!

Kiehl's Abyssine Eye Cream, 0.5oz, $32