Prom Looks from Bare Escentuals

Bare Escentuals has kindly offered up some gorgeous looks for this year's prom - whether you are going or know someone who is, point them in this direction for some princess-worthy looks! There are four looks total; the one you see pictured is "Hopeless Romantic." The other looks are Sweet and Edgy, Seriously Glam, and Dancing Queen. You are provided with complete instructions detailing exactly how to re-create these looks and be stunning at prom! *photo credit: Bare Escentuals










Click this link to look amazing at prom.



XOXO..........................................................................Tiff.

Most Flattering Lipsticks

The folks at http://www.realbeauty.com/ tested a whopping 137 lipstick colors on 8 women with different hair colors, eye colors, skin tones, etc., and found the 5 most universally flattering colors.  Here is what they found (drumroll, please):
Best Nude:  Smashbox Photo Finish Lipstick in Flawless ($22)

Best Pink:  Lancome L'Absolu Rouge in Voile de Rose ($29)

Best Berry:  Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey ($14)

Best Brown:  Maybelline ColorSensational Lipcolor in Crazy for Coffee ($8.29)

Best Red:  MAC Cosmetics Lipcolor in Ruby Woo ($14)

If you go to the website, you can see how each lipstick looks on each model.  What a great, helpful project! 

Enjoy!

XOXO................................................................................Tiff.

Beauty Deals: Week of 3/29

Here's a round-up of sweet little beauty deals for the week...I wouldn't want you to miss out on some great opportunities to build your beauty wardrobe. 

SEPHORA:

• With any purchase - 10 free skincare samples with code 10FREE at checkout
• Really great deals on Tarte products, as well as other deeply discounted brands
• Set of 3 mini Du-Wop lip venoms for $10

RUE LA LA (sign up for Rue La La):

• 3/31: Bare Escentuals Sale
• 4/1:  Mind Body Spas Sale

HAUTE LOOK (sign up for Haute Look):

• 3/29: Dosha Care Sale
• 3/29: Baby Quasar Sale
• 3/30: StriVectin Sale

NORDSTROM (gifts with purchase):

• Lancome:  With any $35 purchase, get either a Wrinkle Fighting Gift (code: HIGHRES) or Skin Regenerating Gift (code: PRECIOUS) - both up to $124 value
• For the boys - Receive a dopp kit filled with 9 samples with any $75 men's grooming or fragrance purchase
• Anastasia:  Spend $65 and get a sample of Instalift™ Goji Line Erasing Serum and a mini Go Brow dual-ended pencil
• Bliss:  Get gifted with a travel bag filled with 3 deluxe minis when you spend $50 on Bliss products
• Decleor:  Spend $100 and get a free full-size Aroma Cleanse Tonifying Lotion
• Erno Laszlo:  Buy $100 worth of products and receive 3 deluxe minis ($120 value!!)
• MD Skincare:  Spend $100, get a Detox Duo: Beauty In, Toxins Out Set (8 oz. each, $55 value)
• NARS:  Receive a full-size lip gloss in Harlow ($24 value) when you spend $85
• Shu Uemura:  Nab a cute little bag filled with 5 mini goodies when you spend $100

ULTA:

• There are a ton of special deals/sales available - click this link for Ulta sales
• Free shipping on orders of $25 or more with code 51160

MACY'S:

• Click for Macy's gift with purchase index - it's full of great deals!

BEAUTY TICKET:

• Steal of the week:  Yves Saint Laurent eye-color quad in "Absinthe Green" is $13.99 (retails for $54!)
• Get even deeper discounts on Pop Beauty this week
• Gift with purchase offers
• Take an extra 10% off your first purchase (cannot be combined with other offers) - enter NEW10 at checkout

BEAUTY.COM:

• Gift with purchase offers
• Get this Chris Benz beauty case stuffed with full-size and deluxe samples with any $100 beauty.com purchase

I do believe that should keep you busy and well prepared for any beauty need.  :)  Have fun shopping!

XOXO............................................................Tiff. 

Spring Cleaning.

Spring is absolutely glorious and inspiring, is it not?  And while we are all doing some serious spring cleaning in our homes, I have a hunch that our faces and bodies need a little TLC for the transition from winter too.  For this post, I'm concentrating on the lips.  I applied a lovely creamy bright pink the other day and was horrified to see how roughly it was settling in to my lips - it was not a nice, uniform pink...it was pink, rough skin, pink, rough skin, and on and on.  In other words, EW. 

In search of a gentle little lip scrub to rid my little pout of rough skin, I found one by Korres.  It has a light, fresh, lemon-y scent that is super refreshing...while the scrub is nourishing and gently exfoliating at the same time.  I'm pretty sure my lips have never been softer.  I usually do a little scrub in the morning and follow up with my Korres lip butter (read my review here), and then repeat at night.  My lipsticks are going on so much smoother, and my lips no longer look horrifying, thank you very much. 

The Korres kit pictured is a great way to try the scrub, as well as some other lip products - the scrub is $19 on its own, and this kit is $34.50.  You do the math.  :)  Get it here.  Don't want the kit?  Get the scrub here. 

XOXO....................................................................................Tiff. 

3 Words: Peter. Thomas. Roth.

I am utterly and completely having a love affair with Peter Thomas Roth products at present.  So far, everything I've tried has been so effective - with fast results, too.  I plan on telling you all about 3 more products I'm loving right now, but let's start with this fab mascara.  First of all, product fanatics, how can you casually walk by a mascara called "Lashes To Die For?"  Yeah, who wants lashes to die for anyway?  Uh huh, that's what I thought.  Moving on.

So I actually had no idea PTR made a mascara - I knew about his day and night treatments that promise to bless you with longer fringe (haven't tried them), but was not privy to this product.  I was going to buy Clinique's new lengthening mascara and my Sephora gal suggested this one instead.  I'm glad she did. 

The product low-down:  Formulated without parabens, sulfates, etc etc, this mascara promises to be your one-way ticket to clump-free, soft, defined, lengthened, non-smudging, flakeless, swoon-worthy lashes.  I'll bat my eyes to that.  Obviously, this product delivers and does what it says it will do, or I wouldn't be writing this glowing review (wouldn't that be quite the curve ball).  My eye lashes love this formula, and not only feel soft and conditioned, but appear longer and more voluminous.  It also seems to get better and better with continued usage - no promise for that from the product that I know of, just personal opinion. 

Get it here for $22. 

XOXO.............................................................Tiff. 

Pretty Cheap

You've already heard about BeautyTicket.com here...and I'm sure you've been loving it.  To help you love it even more and get your beauty on, they are generously offering an extra 25% off the entire site for 1 day to celebrate their birthday.  All you need is this code when you check out: Birthday25.  Happy shopping, pretties.


XOXO......................................................................Tiff.  

Luscious Hair

As if I could possibly love Living Proof any more (I previously reviewed the Straight-making formula here, and the smoothing shampoo/conditioner here) they release this new Full Thickening Cream.  Oddly, I wanted to try this product - even though I have pretty thick hair (okay, okay, frizzy, confused, wavy, etc.) to begin with.  Maybe it was my fantasty slow-mo image of me frolicking in a field of daisies with long, luscious, billowing hair that attracted me to try it...who knows.  Regardless, I tried it.  And loved it.  And continue to love it.  This product did not make my hair go into freakishly huge mode as other volumizing products have done in the past (thank you, Mom, for buying me the wrong formula in high school - another story for another time).  In fact, it really did just make it luscious and full....and super soft to boot!  I also found that it helped define my layers nicely (my hair probably hits about 3 inches below my collar bone and has long layers).  I may have pretended to be in a music video while blow drying my newly full, yet smooth locks - but I guess that's just for me to know.  :)

Make everyone jealous of your beautifully full head of hair by grabbing this product at Sephora - or click here.  $24.00.

XOXO..........................................................Tiff.  

Budget Beauty

I love this slideshow/article on Total Beauty featuring their 10 best budget beauty tips.  There are so many fun ideas here - and I learned a lot!  For instance, I had no idea that strawberries contain natural salicylic acid (used in tons of anti-acne products), or that honey by itself is useful for fighting breakouts and dry skin!  Find these tips and more here.  


Enjoy, you beautiful frugalistas!!


XOXO...............................................................Tiff.  




Photo credit:  Total Beauty website

Cuckoo for Coconut Craze

At a mere $10/pop for a generously sized bottle, the new Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Hypergloss Shampoos and Conditioners are a fun buy.  I purchased the Coconut Craze, and the fabulous tropical scent has been just what I need as warmer weather gets closer.

The promises:  Shampoo will leave your hair ultra-fresh and ultra-glossy with a superfruit shine complex and Pro-Vitamin B-5.  Conditioner will leave your hair soft and glossy with extra conditioners and another dose of shine complex.

The results:  My hair really does look shiny and feel healthy, not to mention I get great wafts of light coconut scent (which I love) all throughout the day.  A little goes a long way with the shampoo, and the conditioner feels nice and thick which = moisturizing.

Other scents are Apple-tini and Juiced Berry.  Right now, they are 2 for $15.  Get them at Victoria's Secret or click here for the web-site.

XOXO................................................................Tiff.

Great Deal Alert

Here is a great opportunity to score a great set of brushes on the cheap...the Body Shop is allowing you to get this great set for only $19 with any online purchase - a $75 value! 

The set includes a lipstick/concealer brush, an eyeshadow brush, a smudger, a brow and lash comb, and blusher brush - all in a cute little bamboo brush roll. 

Check it out here. 

XOXO..........................Tiff. 

Beauty Ticket Steal of the Week + Sales

Here's the Beauty Ticket Steal of the Week:

Yves Saint Laurent Pop Blush Stick
              
                -regularly $42.00, on sale for $11.99

"Yves Saint Laurent Pop Stick Blush is a blush stick that features two luminous shades to enliven your cheeks with a sheer tint of color. Its creamy texture glides on effortlessly for a dewy, healthy complexion that lasts all day. Swirl both shades together for a kiss of color, or use separately to highlight."

As much as I love the Nars multiple, I can imagine that I would enjoy this product.  There's just something about a creamy blush - I love how luminous and dewy it looks when applied, not to mention it looks super natural.  Get this steal here. 

Other Beauty Ticket deals this week worth mentioning:

1.  Take an extra 15% off already deeply reduced Smashbox products with this code:  SBOX15
   (this ends Friday 3/5 at midnight)

2.  VIP sale is Benefit Cosmetics - really great deals in here.  All you need to do is register with the site to get access. 

Happy Shopping!!!   XOXO....................................................Tiff. 

Winter Makeup Do's

I got a daily tip from "Self" magazine today in my e-mail and was reminded of the fact that winter really does wreak havoc on our delicate facial skin.  The tip was this:

Rubbing foundation onto parched skin can result in a dry, cakey face. Instead, opt for a hydrating foundation or a tinted moisturizer. Pat on color with your fingertip to avoid exacerbating flakes and go light on powder, which can suck up moisture that your skin needs.

This is so true...I was talking to a friend last week about this very thing.  Her complaint was that her powder foundation is very apparent on her face, as though it's sort of just sitting on top of her skin.  My recommendation to her was this:  try a little exfoliation to smooth the surface and make sure her face is well moisturized.  In addition, this switch can make a huge difference: replacing powder with a tinted moisturizer, a la the Self tip.  I always use a primer, which also helps to smooth the surface of your skin, and lately I've been using Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer.  It's a fluffy textured, highly blendable formula that evens out skin tone and moisturizes in an instant.  This has been exactly what my skin has needed this winter.  It's a tad on the pricey side ($42), but a little does go a looooong way. 

Check it out here.

XOXO........................................................................Tiff.