Posts Tagged: beauty

The easy breakfast that’s also good for you (and your skin)

By IN Advice, Less Frantic Mondays

Greek yogurt: The easy breakfast that’s also good for you (and your skin)

Have you gotten on the Greek yogurt bandwagon yet?

Less Frantic Mondays: Tips and tricks for getting dressed and creating working mom outfits with less hassle and more fun.I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about myself, and then I read Glamour beauty editor Andrea Pomerantz Lustig’s “How to Look Expensive: A Beauty Editor’s Secrets to Getting Gorgeous without Breaking the Bank,” in which she (and her dermatologist friends) declare Greek yogurt to be glowing-skin-creating.

That was enough to get me to try it. But here’s what keeps me eating it over other breakfast options: it’s super fast and easy.

Peel back the lid, drop a couple of teaspoons of granola in and bam! Delicious breakfast.

The whole good-for-your-skin-and-your-health thing (like the added calcium) is just a bonus.

  • Fab mamas: What are your favorite quick and easy breakfast picks? Are you a Greek yogurt fan?

This is your year to be more fabulous and less frantic! Sign up for the Style List to get more working mom style advice and a special bonus: 7 Days to Better Shopping, a daily series that will teach you how to shop smarter and save money.

The (almost) 60-second makeup routine

By IN Advice, Less Frantic Mondays

3 steps to the (almost) 60-second beauty routine

If you’re a mama who just doesn’t feel finished getting ready in the morning until you put on your makeup, trimming down the cosmetics routine can be a real time-saver.

Less Frantic Mondays: Tips and tricks for getting dressed and creating working mom outfits with less hassle and more fun.Achieving a time of 60 seconds may seem unattainable, but you can get close–if you can eliminate steps and products.

Think of it this way: If you could only wear 3 items of makeup, what would they be?

(My picks: Mascara, BB cream and lipstick.)

The next time you’re in a rush, stick to these 3 and no more. You’ll be out the door in no time.

  • Fab mamas: What are your 3 must-wear makeup picks? What are your suggestions for streamlining your cosmetics routine?

This is your year to be more fabulous and less frantic! Sign up for the Style List to get more working mom style advice and a special bonus: 7 Days to Better Shopping, a daily series that will teach you how to shop smarter and save money.

Learn how to look expensive

By IN More Fabulous Fridays

More Fabulous Fridays: Wrap up your work week with a working mom style treatMy friend Estella shared with me the new book by Glamour beauty editor Andrea Pomerantz Lustig, “How to Look Expensive: A Beauty Editor’s Secrets to Getting Gorgeous without Breaking the Bank,”and it’s not only a fun read, but you’re bound to learn a thing or two as well.

(I especially like that Lustig provides both high-end and drugstore options in her product recommendations.)

Here are the 3 changes I’m already making based on the advice in the book:

  • Rinsing with water in the morning instead of washing my face. Lustig does it and says several female dermatologists she knows do, too. Anything that speeds up the morning routine sounds good to me!
  • Cutting down on hair product. This is probably more relevant for long hair, but now that mine has grown out more, I was surprised to discover how well this works.
  • Greek yogurt for breakfast. She claims it will make your skin glow. I’m willing to give it a shot, so my new breakfast menu is Chobani blueberry yogurt with a couple of teaspoons of granola mixed in. Yum.

Of course, the advice that works for you will vary by skin type, hair type and personal preference, but if you’re looking for new, fun beauty tips “How to Look Expensive” is worth a read.

And if you’re keeping track at home, we now have 3 titles in our (virtual) book club :)

Fab mamas: What’s your favorite piece of beauty advice?

[Disclosure: These are affiliate links.]

Try This Thursdays: Remember feeling beautiful?

By IN Try This Thursdays

Try This Thursdays: A weekly series bringing you something new to try in your working mom style life, like an item to wear or buy, a specific outfit combination to discover in your wardrobe, or even a thing to do.Do you remember the most beautiful you’ve ever felt?

Maybe it was your wedding day, or a birthday, or an everyday that turned out to be extraordinary.

Do you remember what you were wearing, what you looked like?

Who says you can’t feel like that again?

Try this today: Think about the outfit you had on when you felt the most beautiful. Imagine you could look that way again. How would you do it? It could be an updated version of that exact outfit, or it could be a color or a shape.

[Looking to break out of your style rut? Tired of wearing the same things over and over? Wish shopping could be fun again? You can get your style mojo back. My new self-guided course will show you how. Sign up for my email newsletter to be the first to hear when it launches and get special access to the sneak preview sale.]

Beauty review: L’Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle

By IN Reviews

L'Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle foundation

L'Oreal Magic Smooth Souffle foundation

Here’s proof that coupons in magazines really work. The latest issue of Allure included a coupon and a sample of L’Oreal’s new Studio Secrets Magic Smoothing Souffle foundation.

So of course I had to head out to the drugstores to find it. Apparently $1 is the only excuse I need to try a new makeup product! (Well, $1 off plus a positive experience with the previous Studio Secrets product I’d tried. Maybe I’m not that weak :) )

After trying it this week, here’s my review.

The pros

  • Texture. Smooth Souffle is aptly named. It looks like a heavier cream, but it’s lighter than air to the touch and once it’s on the skin, it transforms into a velvety, powdery texture.
  • Coverage. It’s not too heavy, and not too thin. Best of all, it smooths and evens out skin tone. What more could you ask for in a foundation?

The cons

The final verdict

It’s a bit of a splurge for a drugstore foundation, but its quality is comparable to more expensive department store and cosmetic store brands. It’s definitely worth a try.

Update (3.1.11): After working with the product for nearly a month, I’ve learned to minimize one of the cons, application. The trick is to touch one or two fingertips into the foundation pot, then dab small dots onto your face, spaced evenly across each cheek. This keeps you from placing too much all in one place. Then quickly blend and you have a nice, even, powdery finish.

Let’s dish

  • Have you tried L’Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Smooth Souffle foundation yet? If so, what did you think?
  • What’s your favorite liquid or cream foundation?
  • Can you say L’Oreal Studio Secrets Magic Smooth Souffle 10 times fast?

Poll: What’s your favorite long-wear lipstick?

By IN Advice

Revlon Colorstay long-wear lipstick

Revlon ColorStay: My first long-wear lipstick crush

I’ll confess I have a little addiction. It’s to long-wear lipstick. I’ve always found the regular kind too hard to maintain: you put it on, blot it, put it on again, take a drink of coffee, and … oops … there it goes.

But then Revlon introduced ColorStay in 1994 and voila! Lipstick that really lasts. I’ve been wearing long-wear ever since.

So this week, I want to hear from you.

What are your favorite long-wear lipstick brands? Let me know by voting in this quick and easy poll. (Let’s stick to drugstore brands for now since they’re much more widely available, not to mention affordable.)

And if you have a minute, leave a comment below to sing the praises of your pick.

Better yet, share the shades you can’t live without so we can all go shopping tomorrow!

Review: L’Oreal Magic Perfecting Base

By IN Advice

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Perfecting Magic Base

L'Oreal Perfecting Magic Base

It’s not often that a product with “magic” in its name can live up to the title. But after 2 weeks of wearing L’Oreal’s new Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base (that’s a mouthful!), I can promise that this one certainly comes close.

When I first read about it, I was eager to try it–especially once I received a coupon with a magazine sample. Surprisingly, it was a little hard to track down, and I went to three different drugstore locations before I finally found some.

How does it work? When you open the jar, you might be unsure at first. Perfecting Base is a thick, silicone-based cream with a texture that’s smooth and yet slightly rubbery. I was afraid it would be too heavy or obvious.

But despite the thickness, it applies easily and goes on quickly. The “magic” and “perfecting” part of the product comes from what it does: when applied to the face, it fills in fine lines and smooths out the skin. At the same time, it has a matte texture which removes any surface shininess.

And yet it’s virtually undetectable to the eye. You don’t look like you have a lot of product slathered on your face. As a result, you can either wear it alone, or under your regular foundation or powder. I’ve taken to wearing it in place of my Mac StudioFix some days; on others, I apply it to my laugh lines first, then powder on top.

(I should note that I’ve only tried it on my own Caucasian skin. It seems transparent to me, but I can’t say whether this holds true for darker skin tones.)

And at $13 full price, it’s less than some drugstore foundations, and you may even find it for less online. I recommend giving it a try.

Places to purchase online: Drugstore.com, Amazon.com, Target.com.

Your Turn

  • Have you tried L’Oreal Paris Studio Secrets Magic Perfecting Base?
  • What did you think?

[Disclosure: I purchased this product myself and was not given a sample by L'Oreal.]