Beauty Literotica: Reading under the Influence of Cold Medicine

Hi ladies,

For two weeks of mostly bedridden, I must admit it was not as dreadful as I thought, thanked to some books I collected at the local public library. Who would have thought the public library to have such a healthy collection of beauty and makeup books? Some of the books I wanted to read for years while others I discovered with serendipity. If I bought these books, it would have cost me an arm and a leg but by using the library, I was able to read them and immerse myself in some valuable lessons.

That's Oscar Blondie and the books (he's a distant cousin of Nemo!)

The books are (top to bottom):

• Natural Beauty by Laura DuPriest;
• Free Gift with Purchase by Jean Godfrey-June, beauty director of Lucky magazine;
• Bobbi Brown Beauty: the Ultimate Beauty Resource by Bobbi Brown and Annemarie Iverson;
• Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual by Bobbi Brown;
• Allure Confessions of a Beauty Editor by Linda Wells (editor-in-chief of Allure magazine) with the editors of Allure;
• Making Faces by Kevyn Aucoin (it’s not a loaner!)

All these books are must-read materials and believe it or not, they keep me humble. As soon as I think I’ve known everything (rookie mistake), the book gives me something to think about. I’ve learned a tremendous amount of information from “Making Faces” by Kevyn Aucoin. The book was published in 1997 but the information is nowhere near being outdated. This book really up my ante in makeup as a whole and it serves as an inspiration to me (and that’s why I bought it!)

Bobbi Brown’s books are a joy to read and I learn makeup with deeper details after reading them. Bobbi Brown Beauty is her first and Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual is her latest book. In both of them, she wrote with fervor of the makeup artistry. So far, Ms. Brown has wrote a total of five books, beside having her own makeup brand, working with TV shows (Oprah, the Today Show), celebrities, runway shows, etc. I highly recommend you to buy “Making Faces” and “Makeup Manual” as both books are well written and illustrated. On top of that, Making Faces makes a good coffee table book for the fashionistas.

“Confessions” and “Free Gift” can be read in tandem as they were both written by beauty editors. Jean Godfrey-June is an award-winning beauty editor, previously at Elle and currently at Lucky. Her writing style is snappy and somewhat laugh-out-loud funny. “Free Gift with Purchase” gives you a glimpse at the world of a beauty editor (and then director) of a glamorous niche beauty magazine. There’s a reason I do not call myself a “beauty editor” when almost everybody around who has a blog calls themselves so. When someone has a blog, that person is a blogger, simple as that. To be a beauty editor, that person’s job is much more taxing but the clout is also much higher. Also, the gifts are undeniably better. Only a handful of beauty bloggers out there receive direct promotional products from the companies. The rest of us simply buy stuff from our pocket. Again, I’m not a beauty editor – I am a blogger.

“Confessions” is an interesting book to read and the format is very similar to that of Allure magazine itself. If you want to learn a lot of tips and tricks, this is a perfect book for you.

“Natural Beauty” is a good book to read when you want to look good but have a tight budget. Laura DuPriest is a spa and salon owner with a lot of experience in her field. The points she shared in her book are practical and do not cost a lot of money. It’s a must-read for the DIY ladies.

These are just overviews of the books, the actual reviews will come in the subsequential weeks. So please stay tuned for them!

Since this is the official last post of the month of May, I just want to say a quick “Thank You” to all of you who are still with me. June is an important month to me (my birthday does not fall in this month, mind you!) To this blog, June marks the beginning of a new cycle as we started it all at the end of this month. So I hope to be a more frequent blogger next month and hopefully the situation will allow me to do so. I hope this month is kind to you and next month is going to be better. As always, stay gorgeous!

Ciao for now,
Your Makeup Blogger

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Mail : brand sampler

Guess what arrived by mail yesterday? My P&G brand sampler request!


Here's what was inside:

Olay Definity Highly Defined Anti-Aging

Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky Shampoo

Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky Conditioner

Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Moisturizing Shampoo

Herbal Essence Hello Hydration Moisturizing Conditioner

TOTD : Boost body lotion with baby oil
If you're craving shiny legs that aren't greasy, blend a drop of baby oil into your normal body lotion for extra luster.

For the Mascara Obsessed Ladies

Hi everybody,

How are you doing today? I’m feeling a lot better but still, sitting in front of the computer screen for too long makes me dizzy. It’s strange because I rarely get sick but I guess the strange weather finally got into me.

To my hardcore fans, you know I am a bit obsessive when it comes to mascara (and my eyes as well.) Like many Asian girls out there, my lashes are neither long nor full. They are a bit longer than they used to but the lashes are straight and sparse. At age 10, I discovered a tube of mascara from my mom’s dresser (Lancôme if I remember correctly) and my life changed forever. After some practices on my friend and myself, we finally concluded this thing is awesome! Not only my lashes looked longer but hers also looked amazing. But mom was quick to take the tube of mascara away from us and told us not to mess with her beauty things.

So it was no surprise that I bought a tube of mascara as my first makeup item (Almay at Sav-On for a dollar.) The first tube of mascara was thick and goopy. My lashes clumped and smudged. I had raccoon eyes by noon but I could not stop myself from finding the “IT” mascara. To these days, Cover Girl LashBlast and L’Oréal Voluminous come closest to HG material but the quest still does not come to an end. Since I’ve been reviewing mascaras, I decided to compile all the tips and tricks I’ve learned all these years and make it into a post.

Mascaras I currently use

My Makeup Blog’s Mascara Tips and Tricks

1. Get yourself a good eyelash curler

Believe me, ladies, your eyelash curler is your best friend, not a torture device! Although there are so many eyelash curlers out there with different prices from cheap to steep, please make sure you get a high quality one that your pocket can afford. As they are considered hardware, a good curler lasts forever.

If you have a good stash of cash, Shu Uemura curler ($19 USD) is a good buy. If you love drugstore products, Revlon curlers ($5-6 USD) are also fine. On top of that, you can find replacement pads for Revlon for cheap.

2. Curl your lashes before applying mascara

The best way to have believable lashes is to “walk” your curler from root to tip in a pumping motion instead of pinching it right at the root. That way, your lashes do not look bent (and wonky!) If you get the lash curler to work for you, you’ve won half of the battle.

My opinion on heated lash curler: do not use it! I used to have one after hearing Kimora Lee Simmons raved about it. The result: brittle, broken lashes- not cute! Although the heated lash curler makes the curl on your lashes last longer, it also dries them. The heated lash curlers are like flat iron: the immediate result looks nice but in the long run, the accumulated damage is not peachy.

3. Remember to wipe the wand

The next few tips make a big difference: they are the reason why you buy that mascara at the makeup counter after a makeup artist worked his/her magic on you. Then once you go home, you can’t replicate it and your lashes ended up looking so-so.

Although mascara formulas and wands have improved significantly, clumping of the lashes is still a big problem. Having a clump is frustrating since mascara is the last thing to complete the eyes. But most times, clumping almost has nothing to do with the formula or the wand (unless the formula is really bad and takes a decade to dry!) It’s the excess material on the wand that causes the problem. The round plastic piece at the opening of the tube is there to remove the excess from the wand but most times it is not sufficient.

If you’ve watched makeup artists at work, you find them to have tissue papers around. In mascara’s case, they are handy to blot the excess off your wand. Since I started blotting mascara, clumping has reduced to nil. So I urge you to give it a try, you will like it!

4. Practice le zig zag

I learned this tip from a MAC makeup artist named Ian; he’s the only person whom I bought the only MAC mascara in my life so far. The mascara was sub-par, even people who lives in camp MAC can tell you that. But this guy Ian had his way with the wand and after the application my lashes looked a whole lot fuller.

How did Ian do it, providing that he used a so-so mascara and a disposable wand?

Apparently, he mastered the art of wiggling the wand in a zig zag, yeah! (Remember “Wannabe” by Spice Girls?) Instead of just applying the mascara in a straight line, Ian wiggled the wand like a slithering snake to the length of my lashes, from root to tip. Practicing this tip only will pump up your lashes about 4 more times when using the same mascara. Come on, give it a try!

5. Change your mascara often

It always irks me when seeing another woman using the same old, same old mascara for ages. Mascaras have a short time span (3 months) so unless having an eye infection is what you aim for, please change your mascara often.

However, what’s the point of going back to Old Sucky (not Old Faithful) that gives you spidery lashes, girlfriend? There are so many good mascaras out there, why sticking with something that does not work? If you’re not in this category, I congratulate you! If you are, please, for the love of God, get a Voluminous mascara and start enjoying it.

6. Play mix and match

After years of searching for the perfect mascara that lengthens, curls, and volumizes my lashes, I came to a conclusion: I’m chasing a mirage, we’re not there yet (although quoting President O, “Yes, we can!”). So, instead of hunting for the perfect one, why don’t it just mix and match the good ones I have?

Guess what, ladies? It works! Back when I had CG LashBlast and Maybelline Colossal Lash, I mixed them: LashBlast for volume and length, and Colossal for curl. It worked every single time: my lashes were dark, long, and perfect – so perfect that they almost looked fake! The downfall is I have to spend twice (but two kick-ass drugstore mascaras are still cheaper than a department store rendition, anyways.)

If mascara is your interest, I hope this entry will help you. To be honest with you, I find drugstore mascaras are just as good as department store ones. Also, when I need to change mine every 3 months, buying drugstore mascaras makes more sense since they’re a lot cheaper.

I hope you have a wonderful week. As usual, stay gorgeous!

Love,
Your Makeup Blogger

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Chicken Poop Lip Junk: a Review

Hi everybody!

Happy Memorial Day! How's the barbecue going? Remember me? And remember this stunt I pulled on April Fools' Day? Well, although this is quite an overdue assignment, I did locate a Chicken Poop lip balm to do a review for y'alls. And what a trip it is to have a tube of Chicken Poop in my life!

Chicken Poop, located :)

The lip balms are packed in a box that resembles a chicken
(for real!)

Apparently, people at Simone's Chicken Bone took the "poop" concept too far!

And now, the review of Chicken Poop Lip Junk

I have to admit I am not a lip balm person although I do need it in winter time. It's just that the waxy texture of the balms throws me off. The most common type that I use is Chapstick: at a dollar a pop, it is hard to beat. Also, it has a lot of different scents. I remember getting addicted to Chapstick medicated lip balm in freshman year. I always had a tube in my pocket and applied, applied, and reapplied the whole day long. The problem of Chapstick is the texture: it's kind of dry and waxy.

The most amazing lip balm I've ever used is from Nivea. It is what Chapstick does not have: smoothness, moisture, and pleasant scent. The one from France was off the chain and until Nivea sold their balms in the U.S, the only options hardcore Nivea lip balm fans had were (a) hit up a friend or relative who lived across the pond for some of them or (b) join a scavenger hunt in New York to get yourself some of the goodness.

With all that said, the European Nivea lip balm is great. I still do not dare to get the one sold in the U.S market because I do not want to let myself down again. So when I heard about Chicken Poop, I was (a) thinking this is just another lip balm, (b) laughing at the name, and (c) searching for a place that sells this stuff. This may be my new Nivea balm, after all these times.

Lucky me, my local health food store has a healthy supply of balms and other natural makeup. And they do sell the zanier of the zaniest products there, Chicken Poop included! At $2.29 USD a pop, Chicken Poop is not so wallet-friendly (a tube of Chapstick costs 99 cents at Walmart!) However, the funny chicken box won me over and I reached my hand deep into that hole to pull out a balm, tossed it in the basket, and ran to the checkout line. I could not wait to go home to try it out. "It'd better be good," I thought, "I can get 2 Chapsticks for this kind of money!'

An artsy picture of Chicken Poop

"Contains no poop", glad to know!

Ingredients: non GMO soybean oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, lavender essential oil, sweet orange essential oil

The first time I used Chicken Poop, it was kind of strange. Since I was so used to the waxy texture of Chapstick, Chicken Poop felt thinner on my lips. However, it sinked in quite nicely and after a short while, started to feel really comfortable. The lavender scent is strong but pleasant, I did not detect so much of sweet orange in the balm. Chicken Poop applies smoother than Chapstick and it almost feel as velvety as my HG Nivea balm. After the first night, I woke up with moist lips that looked perky.

For a long time, I did not have chapped lips after a night of sleep which was a huge success. I guess the lavender scent keeps me from licking my lips although I am not a lip licker. Another thing I noticed is how infrequent I need to apply Chicken Poop. For some reasons, the need to reapply lip balm just vanished. I guess once my lips are moist enough, I do not fell like applying lip balm anymore. So, in a long run it is more economical to buy Chicken Poop than Chapstick.

A promo shot :)
If you notice, this balm does not give you a shiny look but it is not matte either. It feels like a moist gloss to me.

Price: $2.29 at health food store, $2.69 at drugstore.com
My rating: A+

The Absentee Blogger

Yeah, I'm talking about me here, folks! I've been out since the last post thanked to two colds that overlapped each other. I do not enjoy getting sick but feel like I have more than my share of sickness for this year already. I really missed blogging during that time because I could not sit in front of the computer without feeling dizzy. To entertain myself, I read a bunch of makeup and beauty books and will do some reviews on them soon.

I'm glad you are still here and this blog has not been taken over by spammers, thanked to my strict comment moderation.

I hope you're having a fun Memorial Day and please come back soon!

Take care,
Your Makeup Blogger

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Essential herbs for home made beauty remedies

There are many herbs for homemade beauty remedies. Herbs are the essential part of homemade beauty tips. Herbal beauty tips starts with knowledge of herbs. Some essential herbs for natural beauty care remedies are here.

F

Fennel: This herb is for cleansing of the skin. It is used in steaming water to cleanse the face skin. Fennel is also useful for slimming.

Fitkari (Alum): It is a powder of yellow or white in color. It has an astringent property. It is used in lotions and as a dry shampoo to remove sweat and dirt.

Fuller’s Mud: It is commonly known as Multani Mitti. It is clay rich in minerals. It is used in face masks for cleansing of the skin. It is also good for hair and used as shampoo.

G

Garlic: Garlic is an antiseptic.

Gelatin: Gelatin is a rich source of protein. It is useful for hair conditioning and diluted as setting lotions for hairs. It is also used in nail hardening creams.

Glycerin: It is used in face creams and lotions. It is good for dry skin as it holds moisture.

Grapes: Grapes are acidic in nature. It is good for skin cleansing and bleaching.

Groundnut Oil: It is also known as peanut oil. Groundnut oil is a vegetable oil used in face creams and body lotions.

Gum resin: Gum resin is used for stabilizing the creams.

H

Henna: It is also known as mehandi. Henna has a cooling property. It is used as hair conditioner and hair dye. Henna is also for hands and feet decoration by applying in various artistic designs.

Honey: Honey is useful for nourishing and softening the skin. It is used widely in face masks, creams and lotions. It is good for dry skin as it provides moisture to skin.

Houseleek: This herb is used as healing and astringent in lotions.

J

Jasmine Oil: It is an aromatic oil of jasmine flower. It is used as perfume in many herbal beauty products.

K

Kaolin: Kaolin is fine clay used for absorption purpose in masks.

Kelp: It is seaweed rich in minerals. It is used in masks. It is good for spotty skin.

Kohl: It is a black powder used to outline eyes.

L

Lanolin: Lanolin is a kind of fat. It is used for moisturizing and softening the skin.

Lavender: Lavender is flower with refreshing fragrance. It is widely used to have scented bath. It is good for nerves, cures cough and is ant paralytic. It is also used as mouth wash. Lavender oil is useful in headaches, relaxes joints and muscles.

Lecithin: Lecithin is highly nutritious powder. It is a soft yellow powder found in egg yolk and soybean.

Lemon: Lemon is rich in Vitamin C. It is acidic in nature and used as astringent and bleach. It is used in skin tonics and creams.

Lemon balm: Lemon balm is good for cleansing the skin.

Lemon peel: Lemon peel is rich in oil. This oil is aromatic oil and is used for face masks.

Lettuce: It is known as chuqandar also. Lettuce is rich in minerals, iron and vitamins. It has a cooling nature and it is good for sunburn reddish.

M

Marigold: Marigold is an orange color flower. It is a disinfectant herb. Marigold has a strong effect on ulcer and open sores. The flowers may be eaten raw or can be applied as a lotion. Marigold is good for oily skin as it reduces oil.

Marshmallow: Marshmallow is found on wasteland. It is one the best herbal cough remedies. On its external application, it reduces soreness in the breasts.

Mayonnaise: It nourishes skin and used as face masks. Mayonnaise is also a good hair conditioner.

Melon: It is used on dry skin for refreshing and cleaning the skin.

Milk: Milk is useful for softening and cleaning the skin. It nourishes skin well.
Mineral Oil: It is colorless and non-penetrating oil. It is used in creams.

Mint: This herb is famous for its scent. Mint tea is useful in proper digestion, revival of appetite. Also pepper mint and spearmint is a useful herb. It is used for scented bath; peppermint helps in curing skin problems.

Essential herbs for home made beauty remedies

There are many herbs for homemade beauty remedies. Herbs are the essential part of homemade beauty tips. Herbal beauty tips starts with knowledge of herbs. Some essential herbs for natural beauty care remedies are here.

F

Fennel: This herb is for cleansing of the skin. It is used in steaming water to cleanse the face skin. Fennel is also useful for slimming.

Fitkari (Alum): It is a powder of yellow or white in color. It has an astringent property. It is used in lotions and as a dry shampoo to remove sweat and dirt.

Fuller’s Mud: It is commonly known as Multani Mitti. It is clay rich in minerals. It is used in face masks for cleansing of the skin. It is also good for hair and used as shampoo.

G

Garlic: Garlic is an antiseptic.

Gelatin: Gelatin is a rich source of protein. It is useful for hair conditioning and diluted as setting lotions for hairs. It is also used in nail hardening creams.

Glycerin: It is used in face creams and lotions. It is good for dry skin as it holds moisture.

Grapes: Grapes are acidic in nature. It is good for skin cleansing and bleaching.

Groundnut Oil: It is also known as peanut oil. Groundnut oil is a vegetable oil used in face creams and body lotions.

Gum resin: Gum resin is used for stabilizing the creams.

H

Henna: It is also known as mehandi. Henna has a cooling property. It is used as hair conditioner and hair dye. Henna is also for hands and feet decoration by applying in various artistic designs.

Honey: Honey is useful for nourishing and softening the skin. It is used widely in face masks, creams and lotions. It is good for dry skin as it provides moisture to skin.

Houseleek: This herb is used as healing and astringent in lotions.

J

Jasmine Oil: It is an aromatic oil of jasmine flower. It is used as perfume in many herbal beauty products.

K

Kaolin: Kaolin is fine clay used for absorption purpose in masks.

Kelp: It is seaweed rich in minerals. It is used in masks. It is good for spotty skin.

Kohl: It is a black powder used to outline eyes.

L

Lanolin: Lanolin is a kind of fat. It is used for moisturizing and softening the skin.

Lavender: Lavender is flower with refreshing fragrance. It is widely used to have scented bath. It is good for nerves, cures cough and is ant paralytic. It is also used as mouth wash. Lavender oil is useful in headaches, relaxes joints and muscles.

Lecithin: Lecithin is highly nutritious powder. It is a soft yellow powder found in egg yolk and soybean.

Lemon: Lemon is rich in Vitamin C. It is acidic in nature and used as astringent and bleach. It is used in skin tonics and creams.

Lemon balm: Lemon balm is good for cleansing the skin.

Lemon peel: Lemon peel is rich in oil. This oil is aromatic oil and is used for face masks.

Lettuce: It is known as chuqandar also. Lettuce is rich in minerals, iron and vitamins. It has a cooling nature and it is good for sunburn reddish.

M

Marigold: Marigold is an orange color flower. It is a disinfectant herb. Marigold has a strong effect on ulcer and open sores. The flowers may be eaten raw or can be applied as a lotion. Marigold is good for oily skin as it reduces oil.

Marshmallow: Marshmallow is found on wasteland. It is one the best herbal cough remedies. On its external application, it reduces soreness in the breasts.

Mayonnaise: It nourishes skin and used as face masks. Mayonnaise is also a good hair conditioner.

Melon: It is used on dry skin for refreshing and cleaning the skin.

Milk: Milk is useful for softening and cleaning the skin. It nourishes skin well.
Mineral Oil: It is colorless and non-penetrating oil. It is used in creams.

Mint: This herb is famous for its scent. Mint tea is useful in proper digestion, revival of appetite. Also pepper mint and spearmint is a useful herb. It is used for scented bath; peppermint helps in curing skin problems.

Herbs and Herbal Beauty Tips

Some of the essential herbs for making herbal products at home are here.

A

Alcohol: Alcohol is an antiseptic. It is used in astringents and act as a solvent in oils.

Almond: Almonds are used in making face packs. It is a good cleanser and it nourishes skin. Almond is also used as almond oil. Almond oil is used widely to prepare homemade herbal products. Almond oil is good for skin beauty care.

Apple: Apple is a fruit and it is acidic in nature. Apple nourishes and keeps the skin glowing.

Apricot: Apricot is a fruit, rich in vitamin A. Apricot’s pulp is used as face masks. Apricot oil is used in nourishing creams for skin beauty care.

Avocado: Avocado is rich in vitamin. Pulp of avocado is used as Face masks and oil in nourishing creams.

B

Banana: Banana is used as face masks; it is very good skin tightening masks.

Barley: Barley is a wild herb. Barley has great nutritional value, as it is rich in Vitamin B and Iron. In addition, barley has lots of medicinal value. It cools body and strengthened the nerves.

Basil: Basil is popularly known as Tulsi. Basil has strong medicinal value.

Beer: It is used to wash face also, it prevents skin rashes. Beer is used to wash hairs and to set hairs.
Bicarbonate Soda: it is an acid salt of carbonic acid used for cosmetics and it is used to clean teeth.

Blackberry: Blackberries are good for anemic people. It is used in lotion for skin beauty care. These berries are rich in Vitamin C.

Borax: It is commonly known as Suhaga. It is a Colorless transparent crystal with detergent and antiseptic properties.

Bran: Bran is choker, used in bath softening. Bran is used in preparing masks for face.

Buttermilk: It is used as cleanser bleaching agent. It is good for oily skin.

C

Cabbage: Cabbage is rich in Vitamins and Minerals.

Calamine Lotion: Calamine lotion is an alkaline lotion to soothe irritated skin. It contains lime water, glycerin, zinc oxide and calamine.

Camphor: Camphor is white crystalline substance and is used as antiseptic. It can be used in two ways either camphor cake or camphor spirit.

Camphor oil: It is used in aching muscles and in massage cremes.

Carrot: Carrot is rich in Vitamin A. Pulp of carrot can be used in making face-cleansing mask. Carrot oil is used in nourishing eye creme and its juice is used in face masks.

Castor Oil: Castor oil is used in various hair products.

Clove: Clove is commonly known as Laung. Clove is aromatic spice used in making skin tonics and face masks.

Cocoa Butter: Cocoa Butter is solidified oil from roasted cocoa beans. It is used in massage creams for dry skins.

Corn Oil: Corn Oil is also known as Gram seed oil. It is a heavy vegetable oil, used to make body and face creams.

Corn Milk: Corn milk is rich in Vitamin A and magnesium. It is used on dry skins.

Cucumber: Cucumber is commonly known as Kheera. It is slightly astringent, cool, refreshing, and used in lotions, creams and masks.

Dried Milk: It nourishes skin and used in thickening face masks.

Eggs: Egg is very useful aid to beauty. Yolk of egg is used to nourish and white is for drying and tightening. It is used in face masks and as hair conditioner.

Emulsifying wax B.P: It is extremely useful for stabilizing creams. It is made from Ceto Stearyl alcohol and sodium lauryl sulphate.

Herbs and Herbal Beauty Tips

Some of the essential herbs for making herbal products at home are here.

A

Alcohol: Alcohol is an antiseptic. It is used in astringents and act as a solvent in oils.

Almond: Almonds are used in making face packs. It is a good cleanser and it nourishes skin. Almond is also used as almond oil. Almond oil is used widely to prepare homemade herbal products. Almond oil is good for skin beauty care.

Apple: Apple is a fruit and it is acidic in nature. Apple nourishes and keeps the skin glowing.

Apricot: Apricot is a fruit, rich in vitamin A. Apricot’s pulp is used as face masks. Apricot oil is used in nourishing creams for skin beauty care.

Avocado: Avocado is rich in vitamin. Pulp of avocado is used as Face masks and oil in nourishing creams.

B

Banana: Banana is used as face masks; it is very good skin tightening masks.

Barley: Barley is a wild herb. Barley has great nutritional value, as it is rich in Vitamin B and Iron. In addition, barley has lots of medicinal value. It cools body and strengthened the nerves.

Basil: Basil is popularly known as Tulsi. Basil has strong medicinal value.

Beer: It is used to wash face also, it prevents skin rashes. Beer is used to wash hairs and to set hairs.
Bicarbonate Soda: it is an acid salt of carbonic acid used for cosmetics and it is used to clean teeth.

Blackberry: Blackberries are good for anemic people. It is used in lotion for skin beauty care. These berries are rich in Vitamin C.

Borax: It is commonly known as Suhaga. It is a Colorless transparent crystal with detergent and antiseptic properties.

Bran: Bran is choker, used in bath softening. Bran is used in preparing masks for face.

Buttermilk: It is used as cleanser bleaching agent. It is good for oily skin.

C

Cabbage: Cabbage is rich in Vitamins and Minerals.

Calamine Lotion: Calamine lotion is an alkaline lotion to soothe irritated skin. It contains lime water, glycerin, zinc oxide and calamine.

Camphor: Camphor is white crystalline substance and is used as antiseptic. It can be used in two ways either camphor cake or camphor spirit.

Camphor oil: It is used in aching muscles and in massage cremes.

Carrot: Carrot is rich in Vitamin A. Pulp of carrot can be used in making face-cleansing mask. Carrot oil is used in nourishing eye creme and its juice is used in face masks.

Castor Oil: Castor oil is used in various hair products.

Clove: Clove is commonly known as Laung. Clove is aromatic spice used in making skin tonics and face masks.

Cocoa Butter: Cocoa Butter is solidified oil from roasted cocoa beans. It is used in massage creams for dry skins.

Corn Oil: Corn Oil is also known as Gram seed oil. It is a heavy vegetable oil, used to make body and face creams.

Corn Milk: Corn milk is rich in Vitamin A and magnesium. It is used on dry skins.

Cucumber: Cucumber is commonly known as Kheera. It is slightly astringent, cool, refreshing, and used in lotions, creams and masks.

Dried Milk: It nourishes skin and used in thickening face masks.

Eggs: Egg is very useful aid to beauty. Yolk of egg is used to nourish and white is for drying and tightening. It is used in face masks and as hair conditioner.

Emulsifying wax B.P: It is extremely useful for stabilizing creams. It is made from Ceto Stearyl alcohol and sodium lauryl sulphate.

Shopping : Ardène & Wal-Mart

On Thursday, May 7, I went to Ardène & Wal-Mart for a quick shopping spree.

ARDÈNE

I needed some new nose jewelleries because the one I was wearing everyday lost its diamond -_- So I went to Ardène & the body jewelleries were on sale (2 packs for 10$). I was looking for something simple with a pretty diamond, but they don’t have a lot of choice, & the quality of everything is pretty cheap (but at this price, I don’t care). At least the body jewelleries are made of surgical steel. So I ended up with two packs of three ball end nose studs; the first one contains a pink diamond, another pink diamond but “coated” with plastic & a heart-shaped stud. The other pack contains two cleard diamond & a clear plastic stud.


















WAL-MART

At Wal-Mart, I found some great deals! First of all, my favourite hair colour, Clairol Nice ’N Easy was on sale: for 7.96$, you get the hair colour &, as a bonus, a root touche-up kit! I bought two of these (in Natural Deep Brown 121A).
















As I was wandering in the cosmetics aisles, I found other bargains. There was a promotion for L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Carbon Black mascara: you get two for the price of one (6.72$). It looked amazing, so I bought one.



















There was also a promotion for Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara: for the price of the mascara (8$), you get an Unstoppable Waterproof Eyeliner. I heard so many good things about this mascara that I just couldn’t let this pass by!



















Finally, when you buy a Sally Hansen Polish Remover (on sale for 1.94$), you get a bonus of your choice: a nail clipper, a nail smoothing block or something else but I forgot. I chose the nail smoothing block because I’m addicted to this little thing!

EcoTools Brushes: Ahmazin'!

Happy Monday, everybody!

How was your weekend? Mine was alright, I guess. Since I was under the weather most of the time last week, the weekend was an effort to recuperate. Don't worry, I feel a lot better now, thank to Alka-Setlzer cold medicine (for some reasons, Day/NyQuil stopped working on me a long time ago.) The Saturday I talked a bit to my brother and it was an interesting conversation. Lil' bro grows up a lot now, he talks like a teenager :) We dissed on American Idol but my brother is a sports guy.

Since I've heard about EcoTools many moons ago, I did not get a chance to check them out because (a) I could not find them anywhere near the Seven Hills, it's like the town is infiltratable by makeup tools or something, and (b) I did not bother to place an order online for these brushes. After all, I have 30+ brushes and they're all good, how awesome can these guys be, anyways?

Then one day I went to the gret Target, aka the mecca of my youth, lo and behold, EcoTools brushes were neatly stashed in a very hidden place in that heathy body care section. I squealed, made a jump, grabbed a set and mumbled "My precious!" while everybody around me thought I was crazy (ok, I made the last part up, I'm not Golum and this is not the set of Lords of the Ring!) I was so ecstatic that I even referred it to one girl who was looking for brushes at Sonia Kashuk section. Then I went home...

...without the brushes!

Now, you can call me crazy but I tried to practice some self-control by reminding myself how many brushes I already have. But then about a week ago, I gave in and took a set of EcoTools brushes home.

EcoTools Bamboo 6-piece brush set

Using my common assumption of makeup standard (aka "they suck!"), I predicted this brush would not live up to its high. And boy oh boy was I so wrong, they are "ahmazin' " (say it like Ellen Degeneres in Cover Girl commercial!) The brushes are made from synthetic fibers and they are softer than my teddy bear (I checked!). The handles are made of bamboo so they're smooth and lightweight. The ferrules are made of recycled aluminum and they are also lightweight yet sturdy. On top of that, I got a cute mini brush roll. All for $10.49 (actually, it's $10.99 per set at Target but I fished out a 50c discount coupon inside!)

The brush set

1. Blush brush:

This brush is really soft and it is so versatile. Although it is designed to use for blushes, I used for powder also. Since the bristles are dense, I tried to buff some mineral foundation and it worked very well. So from now on, I will take this brush with me when I travel. It eliminates the need for a kabuki, foundation, powder, and blush brush.

2. Eye Shading Brush

This brush is stiffer than my other eyeshadow brushes but it packs color well enough. Since it is stiff, I can't blend eyeshadows with it but I guess it works similar to MAC 239 brush, which is not a blending brush either.

3. Concealer Brush:

This one is my favorite of the bunch: it conceals my mineral concealers very well. I also tried it as an eyeshadow brush and guess what, it works both as a blender and a packer. I guess I get more use of this brush than anything else and hope EcoTools sell it separately.

4. Eyeliner Brush:

Since it is thicker and wider than my other liner brushes, it packs up color well and I foiled my mineral eyeshadow to use as a liner. The line was crisp and smooth. When I used it to color my eyebrows, it also works well.

5. Lash and Brow Groomer

I must admit not to use this type of tool that much: it is clunky and hard to store. Therefore, this brush just got washed and stored. I do not intend to use it that much, if at all. However, it is built sturdy enough to use.

Overall, I love this brush set a whole lot and hope to find my quality brushes like EcoTools'. At $10.99 per set, you cannot even get an eyeshadow or a lipstick at department stores these days, let alone a brush. My regret is not to get them sooner since the quality is excellent.

Price: $10.99 at Target, $12.99 at Walgreens, about $15 somewhere else.
My rating: A+, if I were Oprah, I would give y'alls free sets of EcoTools brushes ("You get makeup brushes, you get makeup brushes!")

Take care everyone, and I hope you'll have a good week ahead.

Love,
Your Makeup Blogger

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Beauty Literature: How not to Look Old by Charla Krupp

Happy Friday, everybody!

Ever since I started this blog, I always wanted to review beauty and makeup related books. Since I learn about makeup and skincare mostly from books and magazines, it makes sense for me to pass the knowledge to all of you. However, purchasing books take a chunk out of my pocket and after a while, makeup and beauty books started to sound the same to me. I was surprised to find one book at my local library called “How not to Look Old” by Charla Krupp. In the spirit of the upcoming Mother’s Day, I advise you not to buy this book as gift for your mom on Mother’s Day, birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day. Although this is an enlightening book (to me, at least), you do not want to anger the one who gave you life by giving her something called “How not to Look Old”, do you?

How not to Look Old by Charla Krupp
Image courtesy of Charla Krupp's website

Charla Krupp, the author of “How not to Look Old”, is a former beauty editor at Glamour, senior editor at InStyle, and beauty editor at People: Style Watch. She has done more than a hundred style segments on the Today show on NBC and appeared in various other TV shows including Oprah. Currently, she has a fashion column at More magazine. The book was written in an intimate way of “just between us” when the author shared her fashion and beauty secrets that every fashionista should master.

The book is broken into 19 chapters: the first chapter contains a quiz to determine if you are a high, medium, or low maintenance diva, the subsequent 17 chapters give advice on a specific point of improvement, and the last chapter is about putting all the advice together. The chapters are written in a format of a magazine article that is friendly to the readers. In each chapter, the author included pictures to illustrate her point, which is effective. At the end of each chapter, she included a list of products called “Brilliant Buys” to save you time and energy to do the guesswork. The products listed are reasonably priced and can be found at drugstores, Sephora, or department stores. I appreciate her effort to compile the lists and make them affordable (and practical, too!) since most lists in magazines contain products with astronomical price.

Match your foundation to your skin color. When in doubt, go a shade lighter

Use a lighter hand on your eye liner.

Since my interest is in makeup, I find the advice to be practical and easy to apply. As this book targets women in their 40s and beyond, I am not a good tester of her tips. Some of the tips are practical for everybody such as tame your eyebrows, match your foundation to your skin, and get a perfect pair of jeans. Other tips are a bit controversial, like cutting your bangs and putting on pink lipstick.

The bangs sisters :)
(The model looks like Demi Moore, doesn't she?)

The infamous pink lipstick advice

I like the makeup done in this picture: so simple, yet so elegant.

While I have some knowledge on makeup, I’m kind of clueless in style. From this book, I learn more about the art of dressing thyself. Chapter 14 “Slip into the Perfect Pair of Jeans” is a must-read for everybody, not just moms and women over 40. Chapter 18 “Step into Sexy Heels” probably just assuaged my fear of wearing heels by suggesting a list of comfortable yet good-looking shoes. Who could have guessed Cole Haan and Nike to team up and created a line of shoes called Dress Air? According to this book, Dress Air heels are as comfortable as a pair of Nike?

To me, the most interesting piece of advice in this book is “The Three-Bling Rule” from stylist Genevieve Yraola. This rule guides you to wear your blings in a way not to overpower each other.

The Three-Bling Rule

• Sparkly dress (2 bling points) + earrings (1 bling) – necklace = 3 bling points
• Black dress (0 bling) + bold necklace (1 bling) + cocktail ring (1 bling) + shoes or bag (1 bling) – big earrings = 3 bling points
• Jewelled cuff bracelet (1 bling) + shimmery metallic sandals (1 bling) + chandelier earrings (1 bling) - watch = 3 bling points
• Dramatic upswept do (1 bling) + drop earrings (1 bling) + bracelet or ring (1 bling) - necklace = 3 bling points

If you can’t remember the whole thing, just notice the location of your jewelry matters: you do not want to wear 2 pieces of jewelry too close to each other. If you wear a big pair of earrings, your necklace should be simple or just forgo it totally. If you wear a sparkly dress, keep the rest of things simple.

Overall, “How not to Look Old” is a great book. To me, it is a glimpse into the future of my makeup and beauty obsessive self. The cost to upkeep is not cheap. Beside makeup, there are skincare, hair care (cut and color), teeth care (whitening and veneer), nails, clothes, and shoes. I can’t help but notice this is an American female perspective on aging. In other parts of the world, people are more accepting toward the aging process. In the U.S, we are obsessed over getting old starting from grade school: middle school girls want to look like teenagers, teenagers want to look like college student, college students want to look like over 25, and the rest of us want to look like we’re still 25! While there are some critics toward this book as being shallow and vain, I give it a merit point for not mentioning nip-tuck as a way to recapture youth.

Is it a must-read book? Probably, if you are into makeup, skincare, and style. Would you give it to your mom? Hells, no! As much as I love this book, I also fear the scorn of an angry mother. So if you want your mom to read it without hurting her feeling, I would recommend a Border’s or Barns and Noble’s gift card with a suggested book list that includes this book. And pray to God that mama would buy it with your own dimes!

Thank you for your overwhelming support to vote for the new logo. If you haven't done so, please click here to see the candidates and vote for the best!

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! Wishing you and your mom a wonderful Sunday together.

Take care and stay gorgeous,
Your Makeup Blogger

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Free Food Alert: KFC Grilled Chicken!

Hi everybody!

Free food alert for people in the U.S: you can have a 2-piece grilled chicken meal at KFC for free!

Go to this website and get your coupon!
(click to zoom for more details)

The grilled chicken tastes delicious and it's a much healthier option than Colonel's good ole fried chicken.

Thank you Oprah for the hookup! Now, you know it's good to read my blog, right?

Note: Apparently the promotion is over! A lot of people went to KFC to get free food but you still get the meal for $3.99. I'm sorry you guys :(

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!

Vote for Our New Logo

Hi ladies,

Happy Hump day! This is going to be a quick post and I need you all to do me a favor. We've been here on the Internet for almost a year now but this blog so far does not have a logo. Until recently that MMB joined Total Beauty (blue banner on the right), I have to think about it. It only makes sense for all of us to involve in this process. After all, you come here frequently to read and it's fair for you to have a logo you love as well.

Yesterday, I whipped up 3 versions of My Makeup Blog's logo but had a hard time to decide which one. So here you are, dearest readers, to vote for a winner. The one that has the highest tally will be our logo.

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3
(it's essentially number 1 with a butterfly!)

Since I am not a digital art person, these renditions hopefully are not atrocious. Please keep in mind that the logo needs to be legible when shrunk to smaller sizes.

You can submit your votes via blog comment or email me. I appreciate your time and opinions.

Take care,
Your Makeup Blogger

P.S: If you like my blog, please subscribe to my feed. Thanks a lot!