Solid Gold

A quick post on beauty stuff (good stuff, that is) since it's still really cold here.. flurried this morning.. and I am all for any quick fixes/ways to spice up your look in the Winter time. Generally I think of the most effective Winter fixes are as follows:

a) Whiter teeth - to match the snow (clean snow)
b) Darker Skin - to contrast the snow
c) Lighter - or darker hair, just nothing medium and mousy - who wants to blend in even more when we are alread all wearing black puffy jackets?
d) Hydrated skin - recently bought a plethora of (my first batch of) anti-aging skin care since the cold dirty air here seems to suck the life/youth out of your skin
e) Good lipsticks/glosses that also add a youthful carefree-ness to this overall cold dull season.

Australian Gold Sunless Tanner - buy at Ulta.com

 So my favorite product so far is Australian Gold sunless tanner. For me there is not a shot in hell that I would ever step foot in a tanning bed (although I am bad when I am in the sun, in say, a nice hotel in Florida and want to come back bronzed), so I am always eager to find a product that most effectively replicates that beautiful sun kissed look we get from those cancerous rays. I evaluate sunless tanners based on 3 main categories: 1) color it gets 2) smell 3) how potent the stuff is/how fast it works.

This sunless tanner is the first one I've tried that I actually think smells good! It has a strangely good smell, which is a major plus. Also, it seems to create a nice, less orangy color for me and works quickly. I would definitely recommend this. You can order it online from Ulta for only $7.99. I actually bought 2 in my last order. Check it out, and only share with the people you really like ;)

Beauty Balms

So this is a but astray from my normal posts, but I do LOVE beauty products and I also love learning about what's new, and sometimes, what is being reinvented. I've tried a lot of what's out there and consider myself pretty familiar with both skincare and cosmetic product mixes. A new product to the market that I thought I would share is Garnier's BB Cream. It's basically like a tinted moisturizer on steroids: more skin benefits, more SPF, and in my opinion, better coverage.

Buy it here,  or at your local drugstore.

I enjoy staying aware of new drugstore products and love studying their packaging, but I've found as a general trend that price does (most of the time) impact the quality of beauty products. There are always exceptions to the rule, however. I have long gone with Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer and recently switched to Too Faced Tinted Beauty Balm, but I saw an ad for the Garnier product and of course needed to test it out.

I actually purchased the light and the dark formula and mix them together to get a more fitting blend. This product smells great (in line with other Garnier scents), and the color and texture is really smooth. In the past, I've found that it's the texture & pigment that differentiates drugstore level cosmetics (skin, lip and eye) from more upscale products. This BB Cream is actually the first drugstore cosmetic product (aside from Maybelline mascara) that I've wanted to consistently use in a long time, and the value is great. From a marketing perspective, a huge selling point to me was that the cream was grouped with the skincare products (although there was most likely no other option - Garnier doesn't have cosmetics, right?), but casting this skincare feel on the product reinvents it and creates a bit of a wedge between it and other tinted moisturizers. The fact that you can call it "balm" but it actually serves as a kind of foundation isn't a bad strategy either. Good job, Garnier.

If you're interested in further researching these BB creams, this article is helpful.  So have you tried the beauty balm? Do you think it's just a fad, or is it the modern day tinted moisturizer? How do you think the drugstore versions stack up to the higher end products?