Until recently, I’d all but abandoned using shaving cream. It’s not that I had anything against it, but I found it easier to just use body wash. And then I discovered EOS Ultra Moisturizing Shave Cream – which I’ve dubbed the next generation of shave cream. I’ve been using the Pomegranate and Raspberry, which smells lovely and the bright pink bottle adds a nice pop to the product lineup in my shower caddy.

It’s more like a lotion – no foaming action – and I find that really refreshing. PLUS! You can use this wet or dry. I’ve used this dry just as much as I have wet and it works just as well. I think I burned through my first bottle pretty quickly, which I attribute to my excitement over using this product. It’s a “Ten of Less” rockstar as a bottle will set you back about $4.

Clinique and Milly are back at it again. Check out this new gift with purchase available at Bloomingdale’s. Per usual, I’m drawn to the adorable Milly makeup bag. Isn’t it fabulous? And with any $25 Clinique purchase, it can be mine (and yours too!). It also includes:

• Take the Day Off Makeup Remover for Lids, Lashes and Lips
• Youth Surge Night Age Decelerating Night Moisturizer
• Even Better Skin Tone Correcting Moisturizer SPF 20
• Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
• Colour Compact:  including Colour Surge Eye Shadow in Frosted Blossom, Chocolate Chip, Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Iced Lotus
• Lash Doubling Mascara in Black
• Lash Building Primer
• Milly for Clinique Lipstick Case

Not sure what to get to qualify? May I suggest the Take the Day off Cleansing Balm?

Product Girl’s flavor of the month for August is mint. We’re not sure anything beats a cool splash of mint in one of the steamiest months. It’s incredibly refreshing. Here’s the minty products we’ve been showing some love.

• Renee Rouleau Mint Buffing Beads – I’ve been reaching for this little beloved jar of mine all summer long when I need some gentle exfoliation. The beads are super gentle, not harsh or abrasive at all and the formula is creamy, keeping in line with my light hydration regime this season.
• Philosophy Kiss Me Exfoliating Lip Scrub & Facial – This minty lip scrub is a triple threat: it exfoliates,  moisturizes lips and helps freshen your breath at the same time for less than some other high end lip scrubs. I now have a few scattered around in different places… you should too!
• Suave Professionals Rosemary Mint Shampoo and Conditioner - I live for the smell of Aveda’s Rosemary Mint shampoo and conditioner, but find it can be a little drying. At less than $3 a bottle,Suave offers a great alternative. I find that it lathers well ( all those sulfates – not minding them here!) and the conditioner provides a smooth finish without weighing my hair down.
• Bath & Body Works Nectarine Mint Gentle Foaming Hand Soap - This soap is additional proof that mint can be paired with nearly anything. Sometimes nectarine can be too citrusy sweet, but the mint tones it down beautifully. It’s been on my bathroom counter all summer.
• Origins Zero Oil Deep Pore Cleanser - There’s nothing subtle about the mint in this new cleanser from Origins. It’s minty to the extreme and leaves your skin feeling cool — almost cold! It’s a surprisingly gentle cleanser though, it doesn’t strip your skin of essential oils but rather just the gook and grime we accumulate every day.

Are you a fan of mint as well? Share your picks with us!

Before moving last week, I had tweezers everywhere… bathroom, bedroom, living room, car! Now that I need a pair, I can’t find one to save my life. I was tempted to go out and just buy another pair but if I just unpack a little bit more, I know 20 pairs will turn up.

Now I’m really tempted to buy a new pair all because of Betsey Johnson’s collaboration with Tweezerman. Aren’t these tweezers pretty? Skulls are not my thing but I’m all about the rose print.  I already know I’m going to love them, after all Tweezerman tweezers are my trusted go-to tweezers. How about you, will you be picking up a pair?

I’m blessed (or cursed) with stick straight hair. And lots of it, which means I struggle with a weighed down mane. I crave big hair in a big way ladies. But no matter what I try, it always seems to fall flat. Sometimes I think me and voluminous hair just aren’t meant to be. But I don’t take well to defeat. I’m on a mission to find the perfect combination of products to help boost my roots.

Last week, Saks had an event where you could snag a Fekkai product gratis and I chose Frederic Fekkai Full Blown Volume Lifting Spray. I do really love Fekkai’s Full Blown Volume Shampoo, so I was expecting big things with the spray. It’s a targeted hair spray that you use only on your roots. For desired results it’s best to blow it out. You can use it wet or dry. I did both, and then some. And you know what I ended up with? Flat hair that smelled amazing. Not exactly what I was hoping for. Even though the smell is really amazing.

I’d say this product does everything its supposed to except the lifting part. It’s weightless, not stiff or sticky but it just does nothing in terms of volume. So the quest for big hair continues. Until next time…

I was torn between two shades for this week’s Mani Monday and the winner was Strangebeautiful’s Color Connector Nail Polish duo in Cinder and Oscar Wilde. I’ve wanted to try a Strangebeautiful polish ever since Michelle at All Lacquered Up featured them but didn’t want to shell out almost $80 for a whole set. When these duos came out at Anthropologie (a store I wish I could go crazy in for my new apartment), I snapped up a few and didn’t have a chance to use one of them until now.

Now please excuse my nails, cuticles and the application… I’m not done unpacking since my move last week and I’m planning to get a manicure when I’m all done. Until then, I am cuticles and all!

The shades are all up my alley because I absolutely adore cremes. I think I may have said that before. The shade on my nails is Cinder. This ash gray goes on smoothly and 2 coats gave me creamy gray perfection. In some lighting it appears to have a slight green tint to it so maybe it will help me keep up with the military chic trend for fall.

What’s on your nails this week?

 
Image via Birchbox

Have you heard of Birchbox? It’s a new service that, for $10 each month, delivers beauty samples to your door. And by the looks of the samples above, it’s pretty fabulous!

Both Nordstrom and Stila launched new websites this week. Look out for larger than life product images on Stila.com and even swatches.

Kiehl’s introduced a new moisturizer into its facial fuel for men line: the Facial Fuel Age Combat Moisture Gel.

Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion is finally available in a squeeze tube! But this special-edition “professional” size is only available for a limited time.

WWD reports that Kate Somerville will release two new skin care kits and a book this fall.

Through Sephora’s new “Kiss for a Cause” campaign, $1 from every lip product purchased from Sephora will be donated to The Beauty Bus Foundation. A perfect excuse to buy a new fall lip and help a worthy cause!

Want! Fekkai’s Essential Shea Pot de Creme, an intense moisturizing treatment, can be used on dry hair or blown out with a round brush for smooth locks.

image source: Temptalia

• New MAC & Marcel Wanders collection hits stores in November. [Temptalia]
• Next time I’m in New York, this map will be my beauty shopping guide. [Lesleykat]
• New Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Mascara in Blue Grey for Fall. [The Non Blonde]
• Are you a sucker for dessert scented products? I am. [Beauty Addict]
• Yet another addition to Amber’s beauty dictionary. [Beauty Blogging Junkie]
• Milani bare’s it all with their fall collection. [Makeup and Beauty Blog]
• Get aquatic with Chantecaille’s Protected Paradise for Eyes. [Best Things in Beauty]
• New MAC Fall/Winter nail polish collection is out now. [Karlasugar]
• An array of greige from Deborah Lippman, Essie and more. [Cafe Makeup]
• A blast from the past with Borghese. [15 Minute Beauty Fanatic]
• Shakira has a perfume? [Blogdorf Goodman]
• Urban Decay loves NYC. [Kraseybeauty]
• Back school beauty essentials for teens. [Beautiful Makeup Search]
• Cozy up to the new Barielle Fall 2010 nail color collection. [All About the Pretty]
• It’s a Chanel Jade & Paradoxal dupe smackdown! [All Lacquered Up]
• How does It Cosmetics Bye Bye Lid Lines measure up? [Beauty 411]
• Lisa Hoffman’s Variations in Madgascar Orchid is perfect for hot summer nights. [Style It]
• Another fall collection from Bobbi Brown, forget denim, get with the velvet. [The Beauty Look Book]
• Are you guilty of the 5 worst skincare mistakes? [Prime Beauty]

Chanel’s Taupe Gris eyeshadow for fall is nothing short of spectacular. It’s a Beauty VIP for being my go-to all week and I suspect it will be a forever favorite of mine. I’ve been majorly sleeping in all week, which means I’ve had to condense my morning routine. Taupe Gris gives you the complexity of a well thought-out eye makeup look in the simplest possible way. All over the lid, just in the crease, smoked out over liner — it can do it all. And this week, for me, it did.

The swatch above was taken in sunlight. For me, this pulls very purple but in the sun it appears more brown. I couldn’t be happier with this eyeshadow.

What’s been your savior all week? Let us know if you have any VIP products to share with us!

Tarte Cosmetics is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year! One decade down, many more to go we say. To help celebrate, we wanted to share with you our Tarte Top 10, countdown-style: the Top 10 reasons we love Tarte, and perhaps, why you might too.

10) Tenth-Anniversary Product Launches – They’re celebrating 10 years in the beauty biz, and are letting its fans in on the fun with some very cool product launches. TEN Natural Cheek Stain is all a girl could want – love! It’s such a perfect pop of pink.

Keep Reading! »

Sometimes brands put out new products you don’t really expect them to put out. Who would have thought that Carmex would ever come out with body products? I never imagined that they would but they did just that. This month their new Carmex Healing Cream and Body Lotion hit the market. These products definitely fell into the “unexpected” category for me.

Carmex has introduced 2 products: their Healing Cream and Healing Body Lotion. The Healing Cream is the more concentrated intensive product of the two. It is best suited for hands, feet or any other area needing a little more lovin’ than others. Then the Healing Lotion is lighter and intended for daily use. The lotion features vitamin E and aloe and the cream has 9 special ingredients to help heal, moisturize and repair even the driest skin.

Even though I knew it was from Carmex, I was surprised to smell that old familiar Carmex lip balm scent in their lotion and cream. For some reason I can’t explain, I was expecting something different. It is not overpowering in lotion/cream form though, so don’t worry, you won’t smell like Carmex all day. I love the cream in particular on my hands. It absorbs super fast and my hands feel as smooth as velvet. That’s thanks to the dimethicone in it, the same ingredient found in some makeup primers. With all the paper I shuffle on a daily basis, I go through a lot of hand cream and with this I find myself using less as my hands stay hydrated longer. As for the lotion, it has helped bring my skin back to life after a wicked sunburn.

Have you tried the new Carmex Healing Lotion and Cream? At around $6, it’s a pretty good find.

Note: I received a sample of these products.

Bliss hinted about this on Twitter and now their Bliss Eau de Toilette spray finally here. Ever since that tweet I’ve wondered if the scent would smell like my beloved Colette’s Black Musk perfume oil. Bliss founder Marcia Kilgore mentioned it as a fave in Lucky years ago so I hoped that Bliss would draw some inspiration from it. Maybe it did, just a little bit.

Right now Sephora has labeled this as Beauty Insider exclusive and describes the scent as an “uplifting, unique floral” with notes of bergamot, dewy greens, cucumber, lily, ylang yland and violet. So far, mama like. How about you? Here are a few more details from Sephora:

This “in-spa-rational” fragrance captures the essence of Bliss spas: the best possible feeling in the world. It’s a mood-boosting fragrance with a vibe that’s fresh, hip, and modern. This scent is light enough to spritz every day for a signature fragrance—but exceptional enough to wear on special occasions. A fabulous French perfumer and longtime Bliss client formulated this beautiful blend with notes of vibrant citrus and dewy greens.

Could the fabulous French perfumer be the same one behind Colette’s perfume oil? All I know is that I am very, very intrigued and want to get my hands on this new perfume ASAP!

My cuticles are a constant source of annoyance. I really have to be diligent about cuticle care or my hands end up looking rough and ragged. One easy way to keep cuticles soft is to use a cuticle cream. I’m partial to Dior’s Crème Abricot Fortifying Cream For Nails. It’s got a light apricot smell and it really works wonders on hangnails. I slather this around my nail bed at night and it works its magic by morning. It’s definitely a splurge though at $23.

A more wallet-friendly alternative at $5 is Sally Hansen’s Cuticle Massage Cream. It also contains apricot oil and does a decent job at conditioning cuticles. The formula isn’t as luxe and for me it takes longer to absorb, but it is a worthy steal.

How do you take care of your cuticles – any miracle creams to share? Let us know!

Bobbi Brown introduced a new Hydrating Skin Care line this week and it is like happy hour for the face! Each item in the five-piece collection is formulated with an enriched mineral water blend to “hydrate, balance and revive the skin.” The item that I need immediately is the Hydrating Face Tonic. It’s a toner in the sense in that you use it immediately after cleansing before applying any moisturizer or other treatments. But what makes this different from other toners is the intense hydration it will give you.

It contains cucumber extract, chamomile, licorice, aloe leaf and lavender to soothe and soften skin, as well as vitamin B5 to soften and condition the skin.  And at $26, the Hydrating Face Tonic is $10 less than my current thirst-quencher. My skin is ready for a drink!

I’m in love with my nail color this week — Butter LONDON’s All Hail McQueen. It’s a gorgeous nude, with a beige base and silver sparkles that really lights up in the sun. Butter London Creative Director Nonie Creme designed this shade to pay homage to designer Alexander McQueen and it’s truly beautiful. Aside from the gorgeous color, I’m also a huge fan of this formula. I applied two coats and a layer of Seche Vite to lock it all in.

In other exciting news, Ulta is now carrying Butter LONDON. This is so beyond thrilling to me since the brand previously had limited distribution. Carla’s seriously spoiled in Seattle with easy access to these polishes. If you haven’t tried any Butter LONDON before, I recommend All Hail McQueen.

What are you wearing on your nails this Mani Monday?