Manolo for the Beauty

Not just for lips any more!  I’m always a big fan of beauty products that can multi-task, and this product, which has been around in commercial form since 1870, fits the bill nicely.  Women have been using it as a cosmetic aid for at least a century.

And just for clarification, I’m talking about the product that is 100% pure petroleum jelly. Which could technically be another brand other than Vaseline, but let’s face it, Vaseline is the most famous.

Vaseline can be used for:

• Removing eye makeup.
• Moisturizing the face, including the eye area.
• Eyelashes in lieu of mascara.
• Some people swear that if they apply Vaseline to their lashes at night, it makes them grow thicker.  Haven’t tried this one.
• A brow-tamer.
• Mixing with pigments or eye shadows to give them a nice sheen.
• Moisturizing and strengthening nails and cuticles.
• Softening feet.
• Keeping elbows and knees from looking dry and ashy.
• Mixing with a lipstick for an instant blush.
• Making split ends not look quite as split, although nothing cures split ends except cutting them off.
• Mixing with sugar to make a scrub.
• A natural looking eye enhancer when used alone on the lid.
• Mixing with your regular lotion to make it last a bit longer.

Now you know why it is sold in such a big tub!

Did I miss any?

I’m not really a pedicure person.  Oh, the idea of a pedicure sounds heavenly, but I don’t really have time for pampering myself at the moment.  And probably won’t for at least another year or so, if not a bit longer.

So in the meantime, I decided to give the Diamancel foot files at Sephora a try.  I live in Southern California, where it is possible to wear shoes without socks for at least 330 days out of the year.  Some years more than that.   This requires that feet be kept in tiptop shape year ’round, and since the birth of my daughter a year and half ago, I’d fallen way behind on the foot maintenance.

I ordered both the Diamond Foot Buffer #11 and the Diamond Foot File #20 because I figured my feet needed all the help they could get.

These files, if you couldn’t tell by the name, utilize ground-up diamonds to scrape those rough spots away.  So fancy!  They are easy to clean with soap and water, and I imagine that they will last for years with proper care.

I’ve found that the best way to use them is at night, before a shower.  Feet must be dry when using, and then after the shower, a nice rubdown with your favorite foot lotion will result in some fairly awe-inspiring feet in the morning.  I know you are supposed to sleep with socks after the lotion application, but I cannot STAND doing this.  My feet must be free to breathe, and I imagine my results would be even better if I did so.

 The Foot Buffer is a well made, heavy-duty tool, and is for an overall foot smoothing effect.  It is so nicely weighted that you hardly have to put out any effort to get an almost alarming amount of dead skin off.  It is not, however, cheap.  But for someone like myself who does not make it to the spa, I would say it is well worth the money in the long run. 

The Foot File is made to attack corns and callouses.  I don’t have any corns, but I definitely have my fair share of callouses.  This lightweight, easy to use file is also a bit pricey, but it is frighteningly efficient at getting rid of hard spots on the foot.  Again, well worth the money.

If, like me, you enjoy having soft feet but don’t necessarily have the time or money to spend on frequent pedicures, this tag team of foot tools just might be the answer you are looking for. 

*As always, my own money was spent on these products.

By now, anyone who has read this site for any length of time knows that I have oily skin.

As such, I am quite fastidious about my makeup brushes being clean, as I have visions of all that oil from my skin transferring right on to the brush.  God knows what happens to the oil after that, but I’m thinking it can’t be good.  Probably festering.  Festering makeup brushes freak me out.

So this is the way I clean my brushes, from kabuki to eyeshadow:

1. Get my unscented baby shampoo.

2. Run some warm water.

3. Drop a teensy bit of the shampoo onto my cupped palm.

4. Get a little bit of the warm water onto my palm as well, but not a big pool of it.

5. Gently swirl my makeup brush around my palm, mixing the water and shampoo.

6. Look on in fascination and semi-disgust as all the old makeup comes out of the brush.

7. Rinse.

8. Swirl again if necessary until water runs clear.

9. Lay flat on towel and air dry.

10. Feel instantly better about myself now that I have clean brushes.

That’s it!

I know that some people advocate using a specialty product just for cleaning brushes, but I’ve never had any issues with using my baby shampoo.  And my skin jumps at any chance to break out.   My brushes have lasted forever, although it must be said that I don’t really own any cheap brushes, so that might have something to do with it.

How do you clean your brushes?

There’s a small little blurb of an article that claims Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe shave(d) their faces to make their skin look better and to exfoliate.

Deep dark secret time.

What I’m about to admit goes to show how much I love you guys.

I do this.

Now, I’ve got peach fuzz.  It’s blond, but there’s quite a bit of it.  When I was younger, it wasn’t really a big issue for me.  But when I hit my late twenties, it started to really, really bug me.  It seemed like my foundation wasn’t adhering to my face as well, and one day, feeling like a female Sasquatch, I put one of my husband’s disposable razors to my face and shaved from my cheekbones down to my neck.

I was immediately ashamed.

And then I looked in the mirror, saw how smooth and lovely my skin looked without the hair, and  I was hooked.  I vowed to keep doing it for as long as my hand was capable of holding a razor.

To me, it is not much different than dermaplaning, which is something fancy spas charge you a lot of money to do what is essentially the same thing.

I don’t use any gel or cream or soap because I have sensitive skin. I usually shave my face right after a shower, using warm water, and take it nice and slow. The razors I use also have no “moisturizing” strips on them, I’m always afraid they will irritate my skin. I have yet to cut myself.  I don’t feel that my hair grows back thicker, darker, or coarser (which is known to be a myth anyway, although that doesn’t seem to stop people from saying it).

I constantly get complimented on my skin, even though up until very recently, I’ve never used any kind of moisturizer or night cream on a regular basis.

Coincidence?

Maybe not.

One of the things I hate most about my oily skin is that makeup tends to, ahem, slide a bit by the end of the day.  What started out perfect in the morning looks streaky by midday and might as well not even be there by evening.

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer to the rescue.

I had doubts about this product, to be sure.  I had doubts that it was better than Make Up For Ever’s primer, which is mighty popular.

But I’m going to say that despite the high price tag, it is worth it.  And better than MUFE.  Because if I total up the amount of product I put on my face that has pulled a vanishing act by the time lunch hits, then it’s worth it to spend some money on making sure all of it stays there.  And a little goes a long way.

It goes on like buttah, and your skin feels lovely and silky.  It helps to control shine, and even has an SPF 15 built in.  If you are someone who likes to still look like you have makeup on at the end of the day without reapplying, this product is for you.

All right, I admit I’ve become obsessed with pigments. Especially these.  I am quite fond of Breathe and Ore.  And M.A.C. makes some good ones as well, as does Make Up Forever.

Why?

Because they are so very easy to use and so very versatile.  Pigments are the new black, you know.

But for some reason, people tend to think they should be used mostly as eyeshadow, and that is just plain wrong.   

Here are some ways in which you can harness the wonder of pigments:

-As an eyeshadow, either on lid on swept on brow.

-Mixed with water, can be used as a liner.

-Mixed with any eyeshadow.

-Can be mixed with any lip color, lipstick or gloss.

-Used as a blush, or mixed with your current blush.

-Mixed with your nail polish.

– Mixed with your body lotion.

-Mixed with your foundation.

-Mixed with loose powder.

-Mixed with other pigments.

Do you get the picture?  Depending on the color, they can pretty much be used anywhere to kick up or alter your current stash of makeup favorites.  Or it just might make a not-so-favorite become one by virtue of the mixing process.

Become the mad scientist you were meant to be!

If you don’t recognize the title, then shame on you and go Google it.

Now, the lovely Galadrium writes:

I’m a teacher with a busy schedule, and now that the holidays are coming up, I have even less time than I normally do. If that’s even possible. What is a good dry shampoo that I can use on days when I just can’t be bothered to wash my long-ish hair?

Ah, Galadrium is experiencing that most wonderful time of the year where between shopping and parties and work, one sometimes does not have the energy to wash and dry one’s hair, yet still needs to look somewhat presentable when shopping for groceries on Saturday morning.

I heartily recommend Ojon’s Rub-Out Dry Cleanser, one of the best currently on the market. It’s not heavy, is gentle on the hair, and leaves it smelling nice.

You just might be tempted to skip more shampooing than you originally planned.