My American Pharmacy Haul

People are always talking about what a glamorous experience it is to visit European pharmacies, and I agree, with their obscure miracle products not found in North America and very formal and knowledgeable staff, it's not to be missed. Though part of their charm is that they are usually located in some gorgeous historic building, these places are usually tiny. Much of the magic is often kept behind the counter and you're better off going knowing either what you want, or willing to be instructed on what you need. Sometimes, I just want to enjoy the experience of getting lost in browsing around a big-ass store with tons of cosmetics, crazy hair products, and all those beauty gadgets I see in the infomercials. Ped Eggs and Bumpits and The Strapper, hell yeah! At the same time, it's also kind of amusing to be able to pick up anything from a pet bed to a fishing rod to go with my beauty purchases. That's what I love about American pharmacies, they really have it all, and you can really feel free to wander around at your leisure. I find it so relaxing and therapeutic.

Here are my treasures:

L'Oreal Color Riche Lipstick in 'Pink Lady'
After seeing this lipstick in the November issue of Allure, I was excited to get my hands on it as it's not available in Canada. Although it's not my favourite color, the thrill of the chase and finally tracking it down was worth it. It reminds me a lot of Laura Mercier's 'Baby Lips' lipstick.

Burt's Bees Lip Shimmers in 'Raisin' and 'Peony'
I had seen both of these colors mentioned in magazines as makeup artists' favourites (of course couldn't find them in Canada) and they didn't disappoint. Both colors are lovely, sheer, lip stains with a fresh, minty taste that makes the lips tingle when applied. 'Raisin' is a deep, reddish-plum, and 'Peony' is a very wearable light, shimmery blush pink.

CoverGirl TruShine Lipstick in 'Blushberry Shine'
Another one I'd seen on best in beauty lists for a few years now, of course nowhere to be found north of the border. A lot of drugstore lipsticks have a very strong blue-pink base, so I was surprised that this one stayed true to it's original color rather than leaving the 'fuchsia stain' as it wore off. This sheer berry-nude shade is fairly similar to Clinique's Almost Lipstick in 'Almost Blush', a favourite that was discontinued a few years ago.

Ardell False Lashes #301
It doesn't get more fool-proof than this as far as false lashes are concerned. These are for the outer half of the eye, and they are the perfect, unexaggerated length and thickness. No trimming necessary. Everyone needs a pair of these. I suspect I may actually be able to find these here because of the bilingual packaging, which is mandatory for products for sale in Canada. I will post an update if I do find them here.

So what's the difference between Canadian and American pharmacies? Smaller stores and much, much less selection. When I was unable to find L'Oreal's 'Pink Lady' lipstick in Canada, I called up their customer service to find out where I could purchase it, assuming it was for sale here under a different name or number. I was very surprised when I was told that Canadian pharmacies don't carry the entire L'Oreal line because our market is only 10% of what it is in the U.S.

I guess that explains it.

The last pedicure of summer...

No matter how busy I am, I always make time for nice toes. Since salon pedicures are expensive and I'd rather put that money towards a massage or a beauty product, I prefer to do my own. Besides, I think I do a better job myself. Quick, easy, affordable, DIY pedicures are one of my most enjoyable beauty rituals. After taking care of my two year-old all day, that half hour alone spent painting my toenails in the bathroom sometimes feels like a whole day at the spa. I also enjoy planning in advance what colors to wear. Obviously, it's not one of the day's more important details, which is why I find it so much fun to think about. It's a nice little escape for a couple of seconds or so.

To celebrate the last few (and hopefully great!) days of summer I am wearing my perfect red (after trying many), OPI Red. It's rich, classic, and just a touch on the blue-red side with a very, very slight pink iridescence. It goes on like a dream and wears like iron. I wanted to pick a shade I really love because with the cold weather just around the corner, it's the last chance for my feet to be on public display until spring 2010.

Next up will be the very exciting first pedicure of fall and of course I have already chosen the color because I refuse to slack off and neglect my feet just because it's no longer sandal season. And the winner is:

'Angora Cardi' from the new Essie Fall Collection, a deep, dusty rose/plum cream. Check it out, it's lovely.

www.essie.com
www.opi.com

Drop me a line and let me know your fall favourites!

And now back to the more pressing things on the list of things to do today...

The Hot List

Let me start by saying that Allure magazine is my favourite magazine ever. I've faithfully read almost every single issue since it came out. It never disappoints, and over the years I've gotten some fantastic ideas from it. 'The Hot List', their best new addition to the magazine, has been appearing in almost every issue for about a year now. Allure chooses celebrities, and brings us a list of their favourite things-beauty products, fashion, wines, places, books-you name it, based on a different theme for each list. Often I find really great products to try that otherwise I may not have heard of, and since celebrities have access to the best of everything, often for free, their tastes tend to be quite discerning.

Since I've been busy trying a lot of new products this summer, I'd like to bring you my first 'hot list'.

MY BEST SUMMER DISCOVERIES, 2009

1. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick for Body
So luxurious and beautifully packaged, I couldn't resist treating myself. This pressed powder leaves a gorgeous gleam on the skin, smells nice, and the enormous compact will last for years. This is one of the few shimmer products that doesn't break me out in the décolleté area. The brush that goes with it is wonderful quality, and also worth investing in. Pure glamour.


2. Benefit 'CORALista'
This beautiful pinky-peach blush is pigmented, but easy to apply because the formula is so smooth and sheer. The shimmer particles are very small, giving a very glowy finish. It looks great on all light to medium-dark skintones, as either a blush on it's own, or as an accent color on top of bronzer.

3. Child Perfume Oil
In a city where everyone seems to break out the Dolce & Gabbana 'Light Blue' as soon as the warm weather hits, I prefer something a little more obscure. Child Perfume Oil is a luscious blend of pikake and musk, it melts into the skin and lasts forever. On me, it smells very clean and tropical, but there's a very sexy edge to it. It's been getting me lots of compliments, and so far I have yet to smell it on anyone else.

4. Nars Lip Gloss in 'Turkish Delight'
This lip gloss is the perfect shade for softening any lip colors that are too bright. It imparts a pale pink milky glow that makes the lips look fresh and full. The formula is non-sticky and lasting, everyone should own this versatile shade.

5. J. Crew Leather Capri Sandals
Such a bargain at $49.50, I just had to rave about them. They are the perfect 'barely there' sandal, as slinky and sexy as you can get in a flat shoe, and comfortable, too. I purchased mine in the 'metallic ice' shade, to match my silver jewelry I like to wear in summer. These are really well-made too.

Honorable mentions go to:
OPI 'Miami Beet' Nail Polish
'Andante' Cave de Ribeauvillé Alsace wine
Gillette Venus Razors

Hope you're all enjoying the heat.

The French Manicure, my latest rediscovery

As a teenager, my pursuit of sophistication and glamour one day led me to purchase one of those drugstore French manicure sets, complete with the guide-strips, white polish, and nude topcoat. After much trial and error, I finally perfected what I thought was a darn good-looking French manicure. I was so excited to show off my handiwork to my beautiful and chic Swiss exchange student friend.

'That's not a French manicure', she informed me. 'For a real French manicure you need the white pencil'. And so it's been Revlon's Nail Whitener pencil ever since.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was cleaning out my manicure box and came across a white pencil. It had been a few years, but now this simple, quick manicure technique suddenly made all the more sense to me now that I'm a mom with limited self-care time.

Here's my French manicure how-to:

1. Apply a rich scrub to your hands and nails, focusing on the cuticles. Massage and rinse off. One Minute Manicure is a nice product, but Sally Hansen and some other less expensive drugstore brands make good scrubs too.

2. While rinsing hands, use the tip of a nail file to clean under the tips of your nails.

3. After drying hands, but while they're still damp, apply the pencil under the tips of the nails. I find a little moisture helps the pencil go on more smoothly. I usually do a touch up with the pencil every couple of days or so.

4. Finish by buffing your nails to a high shine, or remove any scrub residue from the nail bed with polish remover, and paint on your favourite clear polish. These days I am loving Duri Rejuvacote (super-shiny and long lasting) or if you want a product that is free of formaldehyde and toluene, Ecrinal Durcisseur Vernis Brillant is excellent.

Quick, easy, pretty, youthful, clean, classic.

Vintage perfume commercials

Remember these?

Le Jardin with Jane Seymour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvefZFNj_sw

I'm gonna have an Aviance night!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd9gQkikr50

Jontue ('Sensual, but not too far from innocence...')
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDsPLNT2qq0&feature=related

And my favourite, Chanel No. 5 with Carole Bouquet and Marilyn Monroe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmozdUvkgsY


I loved this commercial so much that I actually bought myself a bottle of Chanel No. 5 with money I earned delivering newspapers. I was convinced that I was the most glamorous 12-year old on the block.

So what fragrances are you wearing this spring/summer? I'm currently testing out a few, but have yet to decide what's bottle-worthy.

UPDATE (August 19, 2009): So far this summer, my favourite has been Child Perfume Oil, a musky pikake blend that has been getting lots of compliments.

http://www.childperfume.com/

MAC Prep + Prime Lip, it's LOVE!

Well who knew I needed a lip primer???

When I stopped by the MAC counter the other day to replace my beloved 'Brave' lipstick, I had never before even considered that maybe my lips could use a good priming. Now that I'm a believer in primers (see Monistat post in archives) I'm open to trying them all. MAC's lip primer is excellent.

As per the MAC artist's instructions, I apply the product (directly from the tube) onto my lips and wait a couple of minutes until it starts to feel a little tacky. I then apply my lip color (lipstick or gloss, it seems to work well with both). My lips feel moisturized, color goes on very smooth and even, and my lips even look a little plumper and, dare I say, younger! My lipstick lasts dramatically longer, and my darker colors don't travel above the lip line or look noticeably worn off in the middle after a few hours of wear. Lovely!

Retro hair product commercials

Remember these?

Uncover your highlights! Discover your glow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjxsg5L5b8g&feature=related

Lotsa hair from Prell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zollnsTxtmM

Sometimes you need a little Finesse, sometimes you need a lot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxPSiGGxYCI

Ooh...Alberto...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlPX6zHfH2I&feature=related

More Alberto, I couldn't resist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sb9IHyocXA&feature=related

And finally, who knew a home perm could turn you into such a bitch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_USiSJWFkLU

One of my time-saving favourites

If you're busy, whether you're a mom like me or just a busy gal in general, you may find there are days when you just don't have time to wash your hair. Men are so lucky they can just wash and go, but for us women sometimes we need the 'shower hour' just to feel like a human being again. I know I do. So, for those times when you'd like to leave the house, and you want your unwashed hair to look decent, I have the solution.

Klorane Extra Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Extract is a fabulous product. I've always liked the idea of a dry shampoo (sounds convenient and it is!) and I've been on the hunt for a good one for ages, and I've pretty much tried them all. In my opinion, this one is the best and it's one of the less expensive brands, you can find it for under $15 and a little goes a long way. It smells pretty good too.

To use, simply lift up sections of your hair and spray the roots, concentrating more on the top of your head and along the natural parting. You don't need much, usually eight quick sprays does it for me (2 on each side and 4 on top). Allow the product to sit on your hair for about 5 minutes to absorb the oil, and then brush it out with a bristle brush. You definitely need a bristle brush (natural is better) to whisk the powder off your scalp and distribute it evenly through the roots and down the hair shaft. Voila, your hair is silky, voluminous and fresh-smelling, and no one but you knows you didn't wash it today.

UPDATE: In the June 2009 issue of InStyle, busy mom (of twins!) Rebecca Romijn also mentions this product as one of her favourites.

Idebenone: Restoring my faith in 'hope in a jar'

Last week I started using Elizabeth Arden's Prevage Night Cream. I had been reading so much news lately (in almost every magazine out there) about how idebenone (the magic ingredient in Prevage) is the best new antioxidant out there, and one of the strongest, so naturally I just had to try. Besides, my skin had been looking really tired and withered lately, I needed something to perk me up. I'm happy to report that so far, I LOVE IT!!! In only one week, my skin seems firmer, pores smaller, and my fine lines (and not-so-fine creases in my forehead) are looking less noticeable. Hallelujah, right? Not so fast, I have also been reading user reviews of Prevage claiming allergic reactions weeks and even months after using it on a regular basis. So far though, no reviewers are saying that it's ineffective, and some even go as far as to say that people who had reactions may be using Prevage incorrectly. In any case, you definitely want to do the recommended patch test before you apply it all over your face. I'm being cautious, not using too much, and crossing my fingers and toes that my skin loves it forever, or at least until the next best, must-have thing comes along.

UPDATE (August, 2009): I am crazy about Prevage and have since started using the Anti-aging Treatment instead of the night cream, which I found a touch heavy for the warmer weather. No reactions whatsoever, and my skin looks great!

http://www.prevage.com/

Monistat, the makeup primer

Let me start by saying that I have never been a huge fan of makeup primers. I consider most of them to be pretty much a useless, expensive, extra layer of product on your face that cosmetics companies trick you into thinking you need. I've always dismissed most them as hype, even when I was working for a particular company who considered their primer to be one of their 'star' products. I didn't bother to use it even when they furnished it to me for free. So yes, I went into the Monistat experiment with a very dismissive attitude. Especially since I'm not fond of the idea of slathering my face with something from a brand I usually associate with yeast infections and other ailments of the hoo-ha.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised.

First of all, the product is Monistat's Soothing Care Chafing Powder-Gel Skin Protectant. It's made to prevent the chafing of sensitive skin in areas such as inner thighs, underarms, and breasts, so it's not specifically for your vagina and it's not a 'treatment' type product. It's fragrance-free, non-irritating and the key ingredient, dimethicone, makes it silky and easy to apply, giving it that powdery feel as it dries. Dimethicone is a type of silicone, very commonly used in many skincare products these days. It creates a very silky-smooth, slightly matte, finish on the skin, a perfect canvas for applying foundation. It temporarily smooths out imperfections in skin texture (like pores and fine lines!)and is also said to create a barrier between the skin and the makeup, helping the makeup to last longer.

After a week of using Monistat's product, I am happy to say that it works pretty well. I like that it's scent-free (most makeup primers aren't) and about half a pea-sized amount was all it took to do my whole face. You apply it after your moisturizer and before your makeup, avoiding the eye area. My favourite foundation of the moment (Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover) went on like a dream and lasted longer than usual. I found it especially good at keeping my t-zone from looking less oily. All this for less than $10 for a 42 gram tube! Now for the bad part. My skin doesn't love the daily use of silicones, though I didn't have any terrible reactions, just a couple of pimples. Your skin might not love it either for regular use, but it's worth the price to find out, and it could still be used for its original purpose. I won't be using it everyday, but for those (rare) occasions that I do have time to do a full face of makeup on myself, I would definitely use this stuff. I'll admit also that it is a little difficult to live without the glamorous packaging and it will take some convincing for my clients to try it, but they'll come around. It really is that good.

My Favourite Mascara

Recently, against my better judgment, I 'cheated' on my favourite mascara, with most disappointing results. I shouldn't be surprised, really, I have cheated before and I always come crawling back, ashamed, unfulfilled, my lashes looking like crap. This time though, the other mascara was a real loser. I don't know what I was thinking. It was one of those mascaras (shudder) with a plastic brush. Plastic brushes suck and this trend has got to, and I suspect it will very, very soon. Bring back the brush, I say!

L'Oreal Voluminous Waterproof, I love you forever.

Why do I love this mascara so much? First of all, it makes my wimpy lashes full, and more importantly, long. Second, the formula doesn't flake. Whether I am touching up my own eye makeup or changing looks on a model, I find I can really work around the lashes without worrying about making a mess. Third, not only does the waterproof formula make it long-lasting and keep it from flaking, it also holds a better curl in your eyelashes. Fourth, it is easy to remove in comparison with other waterproof formulas I've tried, and also doesn't irritate my sensitive eyes. Lastly, you can't beat the drugstore price, I have tried so many higher end mascaras (often for free, the perks of being a makeup artist) and so far, nothing compares.

(Just a little side note. In general, I find all mascaras benefit from a little 'drying out' time, meaning, the formula gets easier to work with as the air thickens it a bit. This is definitely true of L'Oreal Voluminous Waterproof, so don't be afraid to pump the wand and get some air into that tube within the first week of use.)

A reason to bring back bush...

http://www.bettybeauty.com/

I'm thinking of going bright red and trimming a little heart-shape for Valentine's Day ;)

A really great eyebrow tip

A while back I found a fabulous eyebrow pencil, the colour was perfect for me and the consistency was great. Then I got it home and remembered why I don't usually like eyebrow pencils. They tend to make such a heavy line and most of the time give brows that look of being tattooed on. Yes, you can blend them out with a spooly (mascara wand-type brush) but often by the time you've blended enough, the skin around your brows is red, you've stirred up a bunch of flakes of dry skin in your eyebrows, and some of your makeup has been scratched off. This is worst-case scenario, of course, but I've seen it happen many times. Brow powder isn't much better. Although it's more subtle and makes a softer line (and it's easier to use) it can look really dry and even kind of dusty on the skin. It's also less long-lasting and less precise.

So here's my solution: Apply your eyebrow pencil with an eyebrow brush. Just sharpen that pencil and scrape the side of the 'lead' onto your brush. This way, when you apply, you get the control and ease of using a brush, along with the softer line of a brush. You also get a more natural look because the emollients in the pencil, and your line will be more precise and long-lasting. Hurray!

A product I love (I have many, so more to come!)

Now that winter is fast approaching, soon we will not only be continuously subjected to Christmas music wherever we go, but our lips and cuticles may become cracked and dry. I don't know which is worse. Just kidding, it's the Christmas music for of course, because the lips and cuticles we can actually do something about.

One of my favourite cheap beauty products is 100% lanolin, readily found in pharmacies as 'nipple ointment' for breastfeeding moms. It's all-natural, has no scent or taste, and is super, super thick and soothing. A little goes a very long way, and one tube lasts me almost a year. Try it as a night treatment and you will notice a difference in the morning, even after only one use. As a makeup artist, it's been pretty much my duty to try every lip balm and cuticle cream out there and though I'd love to be able to recommend something more fancy-shmancy, this is really the best, and it will only set you back about ten bucks.