Posted by SylG | 2 Comments

Want some Lip Chap??

Saaphyri is on the move ya’ll! Winner of Mo’nique’s Charm School on VH1 last season and infamous for scrapping some chick on Flavor of Love season 2 and offering her some ‘lip chap’, Saaphyri Windsor has officially launched her site selling 5 flavors of the fabulous balm – Mojito, Pina Colada, Bubblegum, Wintergreen and Cookie Dough.

AND you know you LOVE her site, because yours truly hooked it up thankyouverymuch…

AND Wait, there’s More (ok so I’m totally having sleepless nights and overdosing on the infomercials) you can also buy hair for your hair extension needs from Saaphyri’s Ultimate Indian Hair – there’s color charts and lengths available here.

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Philosophy Hope in a Jar

Oh Philosophy…you are going to make me eat my words, aren’t you? Blah. Ok so even though I totally hated the “Falling in Love’ line from Philosophy, I kind of am digging the skincare stuff. Thanks to some more fabulous swaps with the women at MakeUpAlley.com, I’ve managed to score some Hope in a Jar, which go figure, is probably my favorite face cream ever. It’s super light, but super moisturizing and has just the teeny-tiniest of sheen that makes your face appear as if it is dewey, even though you totally know it’s not. I just might have to actually dig in my pockets and buy a jar when this tester one runs out. Now you know it’s the bomb when you will actually bookmark the official site – which btw is offering free shipping on orders over $75 (doesn’t sephora offer free shipping over $50? Just asking…).

Anyway, for now, yes…there is hope in a jar in my powder room.

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Smashbox Cosmetics

I am totally in love with the Smashbox Cosmetics primer – the stuff that goes on under your foundation. To be perfectly honest, I used to think all that was just hype and marketing ploys to get your extra $25 bucks, but as I get older…omg 37 in less than a month….I now realize that the primer is really the key to making your foundation look how it is supposed to look. Similar to a painting project – if you don’t do your ‘groundwork’ you will end up looking crazy with straight up foundation smeared all over your face and uneven.

Want an even more tasty tidbit? Smashbox Cosmetics is owned by Max Factor – so at least they know their stuff…even though I can’t say I am a fan of anything under the name Max Factor, until now I suppose.

Speaking of Smashbox, I also have a eyeshadow duo from Smashbox, but I don’t really see anything fabulous about it, I’m just going to stick with my MAC for now.

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Oprah’s Favorite Things 2007!

For those of you who can’t watch it (like me) here is a quicklink to the official list - Let’s get it started ya’ll!

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Hair Serum

Ohh the tresses of life. I am a newly convert to the face serum, but I must tell you that I have been a follower and avid believer of the hair serum since the mid 90′s. Back then, the holy grail of product was Farrouk’s BioSilk, which regardless if my light bill was paid or not, I had at least 2 oz., a barrel brush and a blow dryer on hand. It wasn’t until I met Georgi B that I switched from Biosilk to Chi Silk Infusion – of which I bought a huge 12 oz bottle and only need a pea size amount before a blow out, hot rollers or flat iron. It totally kicks ass.  I wear hair extensions and with the use of this stuff, I only have to replace the wefts every couple of years (I swear!).

Recently, Chastity suggested some Fekkai product (the apple cider clarifying shampoo which was fabulous) so I decided to try the Glossing creme too. I think I wrote a review of it saying it was a bit too heavy and oily for my hair type.  Recently I tried out some of the Garnier serum, Frizzease, Marc Anthony and St. Ives and blah, it was pure garbage.

Chi Silk Infusion is the business. Word up.

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Sunscreen…in bed with Cancer biz??

omg, so as promised, I set out to do some research on the malibuwellness.com salesperson’s statement that sunscreen is actually toxic for your skin, and check out what I found:

“The idea that sunscreen prevents cancer is a myth. It’s a myth promoted by a profit-seeking tag-team effort between the cancer industry and the sunscreen industry. The sunscreen industry makes money by selling lotion products that actually contain cancer-causing chemicals. It then donates a portion of that money to the cancer industry through non-profit groups like the American Cancer Society which, in turn, run heart-breaking public service ads urging people to use sunscreen to “prevent cancer.”

“The benefits of sunscreen are a myth. Proponents say sunscreen prevents sunburn, but in fact, the real cause of sunburn is not merely UV exposure: It is a lack of antioxidant nutrition. Start eating lots of berries and microalgae (spirulina, astaxanthin, blue-green algae, etc.), and you’ll build up an internal sunscreen that will protect your skin from sunburn from the inside out. ”

Click here to read the rest of this particular article.

It won’t be the first time that dangerous and toxic procedures were mass produced and readily available for the public’s consumption…(i.e. phen phen, cocaine in coca cola, the junk food epidemic, the lobotomy, norplant, vioxx, the list goes on) but like Oprah says, “people who know better, do better”.

Wow, I am SO glad that I was at the same place at the same time with the saleschick. I am going to go toss all my sunscreen away.

Additional linkage of sunscreen’s toxic disaster:
toss your sunscreen!
sunscreen chemicals cause colon cancer
sunscreen health disaster
sunscreen causes cancer
sunscreen is dangerous
sunscreen is more harmful than good
BBC – Sunscreen may be Toxic

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I want you all over Me…”L” by L.A.M.B.

L by L.A.M.B...aka Gwen Stefani is totally reflective of my perception of Miss Gwennie herself…totally throwback and 80′s fab.

At first spray, it instantly reminded me of YSL’s Paris with strong notes of sweetpea and orange blossoms. It’s bright and fresh and uber-floral which totally makes it not for me.

Now Smell This has a really good in depth review of the fragrance note breakdown if you want more.

As a graphic designer I absolutely love the packaging, the retro throwback bling feel to the bottle and the gradient on the glass – very Gwen Couture! You can score L at your local Nordstrom or order it online at eLuxury.com and get a free cd/gift. Enjoy!

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Better than Botox?

I’ve said this before, and I will say it again…nothing is better than botox if it comes in topical form. period. However, I have been fortunate enough to come across a full size bottle of Strivectin theramal deep wrinkle serum and am going to give it a full test run. I am a religious botox believer and get mine done every 8 – 9 months for preventative measures and really don’t feel that anything could be ‘better’ but for the bottom part of my face (i.e. corners of the mouth, nose folds & under eye creasing and of COURSE, my cleavage crow’s feet) are fair game and ready for some deep wrinkle treatment.

It’s kind of complicated too – you have to prep your face and then dab on the wrinkle serum. and wait until it gets ‘tacky’ to the touch. Then you have to have a wet hot towel to put over the face/neck to kind of ‘seal’ the serum for 30 seconds. And you have to do that twice a day for a month and then 2-3 times per week to keep up the results.

It runs around $153 per bottle from Sephora which will probably last about a month, and is way time consuming – compared to a series of botox which will run you around $200 and lasts for 6-9 months depending on your skintype AND you don’t have to do anything at all. So even with my test run about to begin today, I can pretty much say right from the get-go that Strivectin is NOT better than botox, but it still has a shot at the cleavage wrinkles…stay tuned!

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Well I’ll Be a Monkey’s Uncle!!!

remember that kind of (bad) generic review I gave the good people over at Philosophy about my test run? Welllll….sometimes things don’t always go as you would expect them to go. Last night while deciding to stay the night at my parents house since it was cold and I had on warm pj”s and was going to call it a night when I realized that OMG I dont have any cotton swabs, don’t have any eye makeup remover, or even tissues at that! Oh crap. I’m going to have to sneak in to mama’s room and steal some pond’s cold cream and some rough ass toilet paper and dig my mascara off. sigh….

but then a light clicked on in the waaaay back of my mind. At the Nordstrom show, I remembered the quickie promo that the Philosophy lady spoke on, and she stated very matter of fact that Purity Made Simple would remove any and all makeup – even eye makeup. Word? I happened to have a tiny bit left from some sort of giftpack at mom’s house so I figured it was better than the ponds cold cream and gave it a try.

O.M.G. It completely totally and absolutely removed all of my makeup, even the triple thick coating of mexican girl mascara habit that I just can’t seem to escape super quick and without any raccoon eyes. Word. I’m ordering me a nice hefty size Purity Made Simple and am going to nix the whole eye makeup remover regime that I’ve been suffering through in the name of chola eyelashes. Imagine cutting out an entire routine and not having to scrub off mascara anymore. Oh Happy Day!

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Yellow is NOT your color!!

This is a public service announcement from my heart and soul to yours. Yellow teeth are never, ever cute…especially when you can have non-yellow teeth for less than $30 bucks at walmart with some whitening products. I’m not talking about that weirdo hollywood – denture looking too big for your mouth veneer white, but you know…not yellow. Personally, I can’t use Crest White strips as by the third day it feels as if daggers are being sliced into my teeth by the slightest temperature difference (even breathing!) but my best friend and mom have both had fantastic results. I guess it depends on your level of tooth sensitivity. I went and got Zoom!2 a couple of years ago, and have heard that Go Smile works (from Sephora), so please…do yourself a spa-licious makeover and make sure your teeth are nice & clean & not yellow.

thank you, I am done ranting now.

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