You already know to use conditioner as shaving cream and lotion as eye makeup remover; you learned from us yesterday that oils, balms, color sticks, and face wipes are your new dynamic duos. But what about less common multi-tasking products?

Veronica Mayo, a former airline executive and founder of Vemayca, a line of cosmetic bags, offers this pro tip: “Concealer works as a eye lid primer. Apply on the eye lid and smudge darker color into cease of the eye–requires that you bring only one eye shadow.”

You can also buy products that combine things for your convenience. Check the list below for likely pairings like foundation plus concealer and less-expected duos like brow mousse and root-coverup.  Read the rest of this entry »

I have 4 sons. My oldest is 11 and my youngest is 3. While I may not have any daughters I can dote on when I get a new MAC lip gloss or Zoya Nail Polish, my boys still very much enjoy reaping the benefits of all of my lotions, sugar scrubs, shower gels, soaps, shampoos and conditioners. Right now they are quite fascinated by my LiQWD bottles, however just the other week my son Brody (the 3 year old) used my Renee Rouleau Luxe Mint Cleansing Gel as shampoo and my LiQWD shampoo as handsoap. He liked the minty smell of Renee’s cleanser and told me it made him feel clean. I agreed, it does do that…on your face, not your hair.

We have a routine every night that before our “family time” (ie. watching movies together on Netflix with a snack), the kids get showers. I was cleaning the kitchen when I realized that they all seemed to be taking much longer than usual. Plus there seemed to be an awful lot of giggling going on. Upon the boys exiting the bathroom, I discovered that they simply were doing what mom sometimes takes for granted…enjoying using a variety of beauty products.

This was how I found the bottom of my tub (exactly–I didn’t move a thing):  Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday giveaway week a fun one. I especially enjoyed the 80’s bad hair pictures on the A Girl’s Gotta Spa! fan page. Hilarious!

Here are the winners for each of the contests:

Redken: Tina Jones

philosophy: Kristin S

Purple Lab: DLori

Exuviance: Lynne Goodwin

Lierac: Deine

Many thanks to the brands who helped me spread the word! If you find your name on this list, please be sure to contact me with your mailing address.

xx

Shannon

The night before my birthday every year my mom calls me and says, “36 years ago today I was jumping off the sidewalk trying to make you come out.” Then like clockwork, around 10am-ish on my birthday my mom will call me and say, “36 years ago today I looked at you and loved you.”

I overheard my sons talking about giving me breakfast in bed…cereal with chocolate chips in it (my staple.) I also heard my 6 year old say, “Yeah, mom’s an old lady.” Oh my.

Birthdays are a big deal to me. I love presents. Which is why I always hold giveaways the week of my birthday. I enjoy the excitement of everyone trying to win, most especially the “OMG YAY!” when I email each person to let them know they’ve won. So be sure to check out and enter to win the 5 giveaways I’m holding. You only have until August 23rd, and they are pretty awesome if I do say so myself.  Read the rest of this entry »

I love skin products that are made from natural and organic ingredients, and MotherNature has long been one of my go-to sources to turn to when looking for cosmetics, skin care products, and aromatherapy. The skin care lines they offer are filled with wonderful, naturally fragrant creams and washes that help take care of your skin and leave you feeling fresh and clean.

I’ve had some experience with quite a few of their products, but one of my recent favorites is this Avalon Lavender skincare toner. Lavender is such a fresh, summer kind of thing, and of course summer is the time when you really need to work on keeping your skin exfoliated and polished. It works better than any other commercial toner I’ve tried, and it’s also vegan and gluten-free.

*Guest beauty post for A Girl’s Gotta Spa! (sm) from my friends at TheFind.com.

5 days of fantastical giveaways and I had to make sure I ended it with something awesome. Since my focus has been on looking younger, why not give away some anti-aging products from Lierac Paris? Tomorrow is my birthday after all and I’ve been taking a walk down memory lane. I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know me a little bit better.

Now you cannot laugh at this photo of me. I was in 11th grade here (1991) and obviously felt I was made for modeling. I was oblivious to my caterpillar eyebrows or my teased out mullet-like pouf of a hairdo. This picture made it into the “fashion centerfold” portion of my high school yearbook. Also? Just in case you didn’t notice, I had a “tail” that I bleached blonde and put colored beads over. Oh I was rockin it.

Contest details: Read the rest of this entry »