Okay, I’m not really very old. But, having just turned the corner into my 30’s, I’m starting to see little reminders here and there that I’m no longer a plump spring chicken. Plump, yes, but in all the wrong places…

I’m getting a few fine lines here and there, mostly between my eyebrows and a few small frown lines on my forehead. I’d like to lie and say I don’t frown, but I have 3 kids and my husband is in Iraq for 9 more months. Sometimes I’m a frown expert! I use an AHA peel regularly and I have a good cream I wear at night, but my issues mainly stem from all the movement my face does during the day, starting from the very first squint upon waking. There are times I see the benefits that lead people to Botox, but as I’ve said before, I’m really not ready to go there. I mean, I’m only 30!

So I got this handy little stick in the mail and I was instantly skeptical. I mean, look at it, it’s tiny. What on earth could it possibly do? (more…)

About a year ago, my esthetician Jannae recommended taking daily flax seed supplements to prevent breakouts and improve the quality of my skin.   I also read at the Green Living website about ingesting Flax Seed Oil to combat dry skin, and used their recommendations of taking flax seed oil and/or supplements in a post called, “Winter is Here: Dealing with Dry, Cracked and Itchy Skin.”  And a few months ago, an excellent comment was made by Elena at the post called, “Supplements for the Skin, Hair, and Nails:  Price hard to swallow,” of the benefits of taking Borage Oil supplements.  (more…)

These are the beauty articles that captured my attention this week:

e.l.f. launches new Studio Professional makeup line! - Bionic Beauty tells all about e.l.f’s new “kickin’ it up a notch” cosmetic line.  Instead of $1 it runs in the $3 dollar range, and who can resist that?

My Makeup Collection 2008 - NessasaryMakeup bares all!  Are you a beauty product addict?  I dare you, no, I triple-dog-dare you to even come close to having the amount of makeup this beauty diva has!!! 

Lashtastic Eye Magic - Afrobella discusses the range of eye lash and brow conditioning and enhancing products.

LUSH BIG SHAMPOO! HUMP DAY HAIR DAY! - SharonD and the gals at Megsmakeup.com tell us more about the incredible LUSH haircare and beauty line.

Drugstore Chic: Gillette Fusion Razor - Raging Rouge notices how great her husband’s skin feels after shaving and gives this razor a try for herself!  You go RR!

Sephora Beauty Innovations: What’s next? - And unless you haven’t heard, Sephora’s Friends and Family 20% discount is going on until November 10th.  Beauty.com and Benefit Cosmetics are also offering 20% discount codes and free shipping this weekend.

To receive a 20% discount and free shipping until Nov. 10th at Benefit Cosmetics after entering FRIEND08 at checkout enter PRETTY50 and your order ships free!  

Have a wonderful weekend and happy shopping!

Here is a list of some great beauty reads to start your November right: 

Monday’s Cut: David Beckham Shows His “Stuff” For Armani - A Girl’s Gotta Spy knows, who doesn’t appreciate a little eye candy?

THE BRAND SCENT SAMPLER! SATURDAYS AT SEPHORA! - Katie at Megsmakeup.com tells about Sephora’s compilation of fabulous scents in this year’s Scent Sampler for Her!  GO RED RAIDERS!

Jen Rocks Her “OBAMA mama” T-shirt in Sandy, UT! - Shameless self and Obama promotion here.  No matter who you support, VOTE this November 4th!!!

Julia Roberts has Pink Hair - A Mom in Red High Heels asks, “Would you color your hair at your child’s request?”

The Secrets to Aging Backwards - Bionic Beauty posts about Jackie Silver’s new book on what we can do to preserve our beauty as we age.

Aromaleigh’s New Collection: Bete Noire - DecoDiva writes about some completely cool, mult-faceted eye shadow shades from Aromaleigh.

Beauty Product Review: The Body Shop’s Nature’s Minerals - Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains gives the thumbs up for The Body Shop’s newly released mineral makeup line (and I agree)!

Moroccan Oil Daily Hair Treatment Review and Giveaway! - Daily Dose of Coffee is giving away the most incredible hair treatment and she claims that “MoroccanOil has managed to truly tame my frizz, make my coarse hair easier to work with, and get this: reduce the drying time on my hair.”  Enter asap!

Many thanks to all who supported and participated in the Total Beauty - Total Cure Campaign for BCA this month.  What an incredible group of people to work with.  We all can make a difference!

It’s pretty well established that Marini Lash lives up to the hype. Just a few weeks to fuller, longer lashes the likes of which you never thought possible.  I’d love to show you pictures, but an annoying case of pinkeye (thanks to my children and their friends) has left my eyes in a sad state.  Suffice it to say, if you have the $125 and a few weeks, you’ll be very happy.

Now you can get the same thick, full Marini Lash results for your hair from Marini Hair revitalizing conditioner. After shampooing and conditioning as usual you spray sparingly to your roots and massage over your scalp. The initial result is immediate, tons of body and volume. I had a second bottle in my possession, so I did what any loving beauty blogger would do: I gave it to my awesome hairstylist so she could pass it on to her most worthy customer.  She chose a woman who is experiencing early thinning of her hair and who is desperately seeking help.  4 weeks later I returned for the verdict.  It was an overwhelming success!  My stylist was amazed with the results, honest to goodness thicker, healthier hair. According to my stylist, who is VERY good at what she does, the immediate results along with the long term benefits make this unlike any other hair rejuvenation product out there.

Such exclusivity and results come with a price.  That price happens to be $170.  Obviously it’s not just for your average Jane’s hair issues.  But for any woman, or man, experiencing problems with thinning or chemically damaged hair, it’s worth every penny.  Think of all the money you spend on specialized shampoos, conditioners, treatments, and styling products.  Once you add up the cost of all those items I think you’ll find that Marini Hair isn’t much more of an investment, while being much more effective. (more…)

Last week I received an email and in the subject line it read, “PLEASE HELP ME!”:

Hi Jen,

I really need some help and I was wondering if you could help me out. I have really REALLY thick curly hair. It’s longer than shoulder length (about half way down my chest). I am so sick of looking at my hair this way. I was never taught how to manage my hair properly because my mother has the exact opposite of what I have (so I blame my father for my torture. haha.) I’m so sick of looking at it that I want to cut….I want it all done. I want to do a short hair style but is there one that you would recommend? (pictures would be helpful so I can take it to a salon) Thanks so much for your time. - S

My first reaction is empathy, deep, sincere empathy.

Dear “S” you are not alone,

I just got your message and would love to help you.  Have you spent any time on the naturallycurly.com website?  If not, if you could go to the http://www.naturallycurly.com/hair-types page and tell me what kind of specific hair type you have.

I am a 3A, and it sounds like you might be a 3C or possibly a 4A.  There are a lot of wonderful techniques and products that I would love you to try.   If you can, visit your library and check out the book, “Curly Girl,” by Lorraine Massey, the curly girls BIBLE! (more…)

Now that title is a mouthful!  A weekend isn’t complete without mentioning some fabulous beauty reads from around the Internet:

• Products That Work For Every Woman! - Jami from Bionic Beauty shares her list of basic beauty items that are universally great for all women.
• Fall 2008 Trends: The Color Purple - Raging Rouge delves into several ways to go purple this season.
• Carnivore & Creme de Violet FOTD - Decorative Diva puts together another fabulous look using violet and wine red eye shadows.
• Apparently, Spoiled Pretty is a Snoozefest - I had to laugh reading this post.  Yeah Daneen, your totally rocking and wonderful beauty blog is a real snoozer! ;)
• Lash Stash is Back - Makeup Moxie reports that while the original Lash Stash had only seven mascaras, the new version now comes with ten mini mascaras for you to test out.  How awesome, I want!
• JESSICURL TOO SHEA CONDITIONER! HUMP DAY HAIR DAY! - My favorite group of beauty mavens at Megsmakeup.com test out Jessicurl, and guess what?  They love it!
• HOLIDAYS ARE HERE! SATURDAYS AT SEPHORA! - Kate at Megsamakeup.com talks about some amazing traincases filled with cosmetics that are being auctioned for charity.  Go check them out, and bid away.  
• Fitness Friday:  Don’t Skimp on Stretching - My favorite beauty gals from Girl-Woman-Beauty-Brains-Blog discuss the benefits of stretching!   
• Comments for a Cure:  This weekend Only - Face Candy gives a touching tribute to her parents and supports BCA by contributing $4 for every comment made at this post!
• lancome oscillation mascara launches today! - Jenn and Christine at Beauty in Real Life review Lancome’s newly released vibrating mascara applicator.  Does it work and tips on how to use it.

Here are some new promotions just announced at my favorite naturally curly hair line, Jessicurl.  Because one of the curly hair commandments is to avoid blow-drying, her microfiber towels help speed up your air-drying and help style your hair as well (via plunking and scrunching).   For great curly hair styling tips be sure to watch Jess’ demonstration videos at the Jessicurl website!

• $3 off liters, all products and all scents
• $3 off the “towel combo,” a small microfiber towel for scrunching and a larger one for plunking (be sure to watch Jess’ demonstration videos if you don’t know what that means or if you just want to learn the best techniques for using Jessicurl products)
• 10% off full size collections (Rich, Light, and Try It All), and all body care products too!!

With each purchase, Jessicurl includes a very fun Jessicurl bumper sticker stating, “You have the right to remain curly!”  So Jess is asking her customers (like you Tracy) to participate by sending her a photo of your Jessicurl bumper sticker on your car, your school locker, or any other (legal!) place and in return she will send you back a discount code for 10% off a future order!   Not only that but in the next few weeks the Jessicurl site will unveil a new photo gallery page to show these pictures off.   She asks us to please only send pictures that you would be OK having publicly posted (and they will blur or black out license plate numbers).  Send your photo to customerservice@jessicurl.com with “Bumper Sticker Photo” in the subject line.

You do have the right to remain curly!

Find the right process for your skin and hair type

Waxing, tweezing, lasering … part-torture, part-godsend. But with so many choices, which method works best for you? Your skin tone, hair texture and pain threshold are all major factors we’ll weed through to get your strategy set. Answer the following questions to find your ideal procedure.

Hair removal quiz

Today is not only the first official day of the fall season; today is International Curly Day!
[You Tube]

Watch this International Curly Day video and head on over to the Naturally Curly website for great ways to celebrate our curls today and everyday!

One nice way to celebrate is by getting 10% off CurlMart purchases now through September 25th! Use coupon code ICD08.