Product Review: BeneFit

Dr. Feelgood is a product I must try. The catalog says it will get rid of pores and fine lines while soaking up excess oil. It's skin perfecting. But is it likely to clog my pores? That's the question.

Recently I was able to test out Color Plump! It is a thick pencil of wondrous color that fluffs and smooths lips. I see a definite plumping effect on when I apply it. The pencil is soft and it goes on evenly with less waxiness than a lipstick. The color I have is called Hey Sailor, a frosty mauvey hue which for me, is a bit dark but perfect for those nights when I go out on the town.

I love lotions and moisturizers. This is Touch Me Then Try to Leave. Lush and creamy, lightly scented. I want it.

If you want to buy a friend a gift, this is it. A whole kit for the face. The other day I was shopping and the salesgirl ringing me up had amazing lashes, thick and dark and long.

"What mascara do you use?" I asked, hoping she didn't say Great Lash by Maybelline because on other people, Great Lash is lovely but on me, my lashes clump together and look stubbier than usual. The salesgirl told me she wore Bad Gal lash. Hello! Now it's on my list of things to buy. It's a very long list.

BeneFit is a funky, flirty brand created by twin sisters. The products are innovative and fun with cute names and good quality. I believe what put BeneFit on the map was Benetint, a top selling, rose scented cheek and lip tint that gives skin a natural looking flush.

I eagerly paged through the newest catalog and choose a bunch of products including Dr. Feelgood mentioned above. I currently use Clinique's Pore Minimizer and am curious to see how Dr. Feelgood measures up. I want those pores gone!

I like Play Sticks, foundation in a stick form with soothing ingredients like chamomile and tea tree extracts. Glamazon might give me the lightly tanned skin I desire without the sun damage while Bad Gal kohl pencil would probably make me look heroin chic which is so appropriate for a mother of two. But I like it! There are so many awesome products from BeneFit that I'd like to try.

Have you tried anything and loved it? Have something to recommend? Let me know! Post your comments and tell me what you think.

This Explains Why......

I recieved consistent A's in Anthropology in college. I always loved the study of culture and all the nitty gritty that comes with homo homo sapiens ect. It helps that my professors were always light hearted and funny cussers!



Childs apron. How cute is this. Buy it in an extra large and throw on a tank underneath with some well worn jeans and strut!
I know the stripes lend itself to peppermint and candycanes, but, this dress is all Summer. Sizzling Sassy Sexy and Slammin'.

Yum. Wanna wear this tonight!

Anna Sui never does me wrong. Me love Anna long time.

Lady Marmalade. Sweet orange goodness.

Girls, go get your "A" in Anthropologie!

Shopbop!

Ignore the fact that the model looks like Tara Reid with short hair. Cute dress. I love it for lounging by the pool drinking frothy cool alcholic beverages.

I would wear this with my hair pulled back into a low ponytail and a daisy behind my ear. Sweet but not innocent.

Smile! The drape of the dress is flattering, this one comes in several colors. I like the purple.

Is she fixing her strap or showing us that she shaved? Either way I'm digging the loose dress. Very unrestricting.

Its a cross between a nightie and a summer dress. Lindsay Lohan would pair this number with some black leggings but I would go for bare legs and cute shoes.

Thanks to the fashiony chica who suggested I try Shopbop.com. Everything you could ever want on one glorious website.

Chic, Lisy, and Ford

This was one of those posts where my love of fashion and style over-rode my technology frustrations. I received the below email from the oh so great ChicShops (go there quickly, it's addicting) announcing a Summer Sale from Lisy B. Enter "chicshops" at checkout and recieve a 20% discount on orders of $100 or more. Not bad I thought to myself. I galloped my way over to Lisy B and found a boatload of awesome, stunning, cute this and thats. I started hungrily saving pictures as I went. To my horror when I went to post and celebrate, the pictures didn't save and the one that did was microscopic. SO, I hunted around for my favorite designer on the site: Geren Ford. Oh sweet Geren, how my heart beats songs of love for your designs.

I know the pictures are small. I suspect you lovely fashion hungry divas can handle it.
Go to Lisy B and Geren Ford to see more detail. You won't be dissapointed!



Small, but you get the idea. SOOOOO CUTE!

Tiny. Her waist that is. I love this.
There are great pictures of this one on Lisy B.

Check out the lines on this number. I want one!

S.S.Love loves you!

A good blush is hard to find

When I was growing up, Clinique makeup was the bomb. My mother would only shop for it when they offered those little gift bags with free samples which always included that yellow moisturizer. My friends mother only wore Clinique and started my friend on a daily regime of Clinique skincare when she was thirteen. I was happy with Ivory soap and Sea Breeze.

But the lure of the free gift bag lulled me to the Clinique makeup counter where I started wearing blush in Mocha Pink. For years, that was all I wore. Even though it wore off quickly and didn't really give me the look I was going for, I was steadfast in my application of Mocha Pink.

Giving up on Mocha Pink, I moved to Elizabeth Arden. The salesgirl swore to me that this color would compliment my skintone and bring out my eyecolor. Okay! I'm sold. But Sugar Plum failed to give me that just-ran-around-the -block- on- a- cold- day flush.

In fact, Sugar Plum looked suspiciously like Mocha Pink. What does a girl have to do to find the perfect color for her skin tone? I tried Maybelline and found something to last me for a while. The color was Pure Berry and I read about it in a magazine. On me the color appeared too bright. Clown cheeks. I did not give up on my quest.

I couldn't help but feel a bit off with every single color I chose. My cheeks were in desperate need of something, but what? I purchased what I thought would be an excellent hue for me, L'Oreal in Rustica/Rustique. Not too pink, not to brown.

I have found over the years that any shade of blush from L'Oreal makes me look like I have a bad tan but only on my cheeks. The pink fades to bright orange and then it completely wears off. I still have this compact practically brand new. The search continued.... ...until one day I mentioned to my makeup artist friend Lisa that I wanted to try Orgasm by Nars. It's the color almost every makeup artist has in their box of tricks. She loaned me the blush to try and I loved it. I found the Holy Grail.

It's magic for me but might be a tad iridescent for some. It's a slightly glimmery peachy color that gives me the flushed look I've been after for ten years. TEN YEARS. The lipgloss by the same name is a bit gloopy and MAC's Prrrr is very similar but with less gloppage. Yes, that's a word.

Right now with the summer months upon us, I slightly dust a very inexpensive Bonnie Bell bronzing powder on my cheeks and nose then give myself a light dusting of Nars Orgasm. It may not last for hours and hours and it does settle into my pores just a little but I'm happy with the color overall.

At this moment I'm searching for the Perfect Mascara and the Perfect Pore Minimizer/Primer, I hear Smashbox makes a good one and Lisa- my- makeup- artist promises that Benefit's Dr. Feelgood will in fact, deliver the goods. I don't wear any foundation but am not opposed to finding an amazing product that will give me flawless and beautiful skin. And since I refuse to get tan by sitting in the sun, I'm using my Nature's Gate Sundercover Sunscreen spf 30 and my ProCyte Ti-Silc spf 60 like a good California girl.

All I want is a nice dress....

A Common Thread

Tracy Reese

Karanina braided halter

Nanette Lepore

Kara Janx kimono dress

Diane Von Furstenberg

You'd think it would be easy, finding a hip dress in a flattering cut. Nothing too long that makes me look like I just hopped off a stagecoach, nothing that indicates I'm trying to recapture my youth and nothing that hints I'm a hoochie. But nooooooo. It's not easy unless you are shopping in a fantasy world where you can spend hundreds of dollars on one dress. It has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little girl to own a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress. Yeah, not this month.

I'm going on vacation and all I want is a new dress for dinners out. I also have an August wedding to attend and I'd like something for that. Every photo of me at a special event features me in either one of two dresses, both black. Both blahhhhh.

I'll take that Kara Janx dress, check it out. I hear Kara's signature dress is not only flattering but super comfortable too. I have jeans in various washes, skirts galore, tee shirts- more than I can count, but dresses, those are lacking in my cluttered closet. We need to remedy this stat.

Product Review...French Mani, oui oui

For the longest time I've been saying there should be a white paint pen for nails so I (and you) could do lovely French Manicures easily at home. And lo and behold, from my lips to Sally Hanson's ears, comes The Five Minute French Manicure set. Nothing thrills me more than a new beauty item, something to make me feel good about myself and my ragged nails. I bought it at Target this morning along with some Sally Hanson Lip Plumping gloss which did nothing to plump my lips but did however, make them super shiny.

I tore open the package and proceeded to paint my nails. It took me multiple times to get a nice thick application of the white paint across my toenails. The problem I had was that the pen made a gloopy dot every time I pressed down or lifted up. After I slowly and somewhat evenly, applied the paint to my toes, I attempted my fingers. By the way, don't look too closely at those toenails. From a distance they look good but up close you can see my mistakes.

It took several tries to get the line thick and opaque and straight across my fingernails. I had such a difficult time using my left hand to do my right, that the end result appeared to be that my nails were done by a blind person with a hand tremor. By this time, the color had smudged on my left hand and I had to do it all again. Either the line across was not straight or the color was not thick. Finally I gave up and made a cup of green tea with the intention to paint my nails something totally different after lunch. I tucked the paint pen back into the packaging, I think this is going to be a return.

I'm going to stick with my regular nail polish, Hard Candy in baby blue. I love the clean summery look of french manicured nails and will leave it to the professionals. But the pen is a brilliant idea, I just wish the color came out more uniform in thickness.

Hangin' With The Raisin Girls.....

Raisins has always been one of my top picks when shop for bikini's. There is a killer store in Mission Beach (San Diego) called Pilars that carries tons of suits and always has a massive collection of Raisins. A mecca of spandex/nylon/ties and such. With the temperature rising high to the sky lately, swimming/ocean/pools/backyard sprinklers/seasonal streams has me daydreaming about new bathing suits. Fashionistas must carry the style torch wherever we may roam!


Cute! I like the new dangly charms that seem to be adorning this seasons suits.

This is my favorite print. Sexy, bright, and full of delight.

Yum.

An apple a day will keep you throwing this on (with sunscreen) and taking on that summer tan!

No orange streaks or bronzed palms.

I have this suit in a different color palette. More blues. Looks kinda vintage O.P.

See my favorite suit in action. Looks like Cabo waters. Sweet sweet Cabo San Lucas. Pony up to the pool bar and order a round of chilly margaritas with lots of salt!