Skincare

Happy Friday ladies (and gents)! Today I'm going to talk about that very complicated topic of skincare. I don't know about you, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed at the drugstore, just staring at all the skincare products wondering which items work the best and if this cleanser would go well with this moisturizer, etc. Here are some of my favorite skincare products (and I promise I've tried a LOT):

Cleansers

Aveeno Positively Radiant Makeup Remover Cleanser

I found this at Target and I really, really like it. Like all Aveeno products, it has a pleasant, light scent, is gentle and moisturizing and doesn't irritate your skin. What I love about this specific cleanser is that it is self-foaming and it creates this awesome lather that feels so good on your skin - you feel like you're getting a spa treatment every night! It is very gentle so sometimes I have to lather up twice for it to really get everything off my face, but for me I'd rather use a more gentle cleanser and have to use it twice than use something harsh on my skin.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Cleanser

This is a product I've used off and on for years. Like the Aveeno, it's really gentle and will never sting your eyes, but it's a very effective cleanser and I love the smell - kind of a weird smell to try to describe, but it just smells like a spa! Almost lavender or rosemary-ish. It is definitely more expensive than the Aveeno, but it's just so effective and pleasant to use that I always end up going back to it.

Moisturizers

Neturogena Oil-Free Moisture SPF 15

Mine has newer packaging, but looks similar to this. For a day moisturizer, I usually go as plain as possible - something oil-free that won't make me greasy but will moisturize and protect my skin. This stuff is really good.

Burt's Bees Positively Ageless Night Cream

This is my nighttime moisturizer, and I really like it. Just moisturizing enough, with a nice light texture - plus a great pomegranate scent that to me smells like cranberry tea or something. It's really good, and it's all-natural which is a nice plus. I'm going to have to get more!

Eye Cream

Origins GinZing Eye Cream

This is such a great eye cream...I use it in the morning after moisturizer, and it really helps "wake up" my eyes. Besides for the ginseng and caffeine to de-puff, there's a nice luminous pink tint that helps camouflage my dark circles, which are probably my biggest beauty gripe. This eye cream plus CoverGirl Simply Ageless concealer equals bright eyes!

So there you have it...some truly great skincare secret weapons. Try them out!

Hair How-To.

This Friday night when I was heading out for dinner/drinks with my girlfriends, I couldn't figure out what to do with my hair. I recently cut bangs for myself, and while I quite enjoy them , they freak out in the humidity and it seemed like it was going to rain that night. So I ended up putting my hair up in this braided hairstyle that I've done a few times that was inspired by these pictures from glamour.com/beauty:

                     

I promise it's really easy and looks great with any hair type/texture, and it's so flattering and girly and cute! My BF always compliments my hair when I wear it this way...and you know for a guy to actually comment on a hairstyle is a big deal. Here is my how-to:

1. The first step is to start with a little texture in your hair. It doesn't really matter if your hair is totally dry or slightly damp, but either way add a little texturizing product (I just used some flexible-hold Aussie hairspray, the shine+hold one) to your hair before you start braiding. Flip your head over, spray it in and massage/scrunch your hair and flip over.

2. Next, divide your hair in half from forehead to neck, as if you were going to do pigtails, and secure one side with an elastic. you don't have to do it right down the middle; I think I look better with a slight side part, so I divided it that way. I think it looks better when it's a pretty messy part, so don't overthink it!

3. Start french-braiding the side you didn't secure. Err on the side of braiding a little more tightly - you can loosen it up later, and it will loosen on its own as you wear it. If you've never french-braided, here's a tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q74Efp4P5Tw

4. Braid it all the way down to the end and secure with an elastic. Next, braid the other side of your hair.

5. Once you've braided down to the ends, take the elastic out of the first braid and gather your hair together to form a bun. you can un-do some of the braid so it's easier to get into a bun.

6. Secure the bun with an elastic and then with bobby pins if needed/desired. Finally, spray with strong-hold hairspray - I like John Frieda Moisture Barrier.

7. Ta-da!

Try it out and let me know how it goes! The biggest thing with this hairstyle is not to worry about it - it can be as messy/neat/whatever as you like! 

OMG Giada.

I finally made it over to Target yesterday; although I love the store, I have had really low energy since fall started blowing in and just couldn't muster the strength to get over there. I got some good stuff - more of their fabulous v-neck pocket tees (seriously the best t-shirts ever for 8 bucks a pop), a neon pink sports bra, a faux leather jacket, Burt's Bees toothpaste...gotta love a store where you can just get everything! My heart stopped, however, when I found the section for the new Giada for Target line. Dear sweet Lady Gaga. This line is all I've been waiting for. I'm just so pissed that it wasn't available last year when I stocked up on kitchen gadgets for my Boston apartment! It is such a great line containing everything you could ever need for your kitchen: pots and pants, bakeware, cutlery, even appliances! I died when I saw her food processor for 69.99, as opposed to Cuisinart's that go for at least 250!

Isn't it cute???

I've been wanting a food processor forever - my family doesn't even own one, even though we have random things like a bread maker and ice cream maker. I know you can usually use a blender, but like, no. I want to be official. I want to be professional. I want to be Giada.

I was going to buy myself one of her adorable red spatulas (the spatulas in my parents' kitchen are seriously lacking), but I resisted. Instead I got a jar of her Tomato Basil sauce (I read on her blog that her favorite items from her line are her pasta sauces) and I poured it over ravioli for dinner last night and it was fabulous! As soon as you open the jar, you actually smell fresh tomatoes and fresh basil, which you may not expect from a jarred pasta sauce. 

I'm excited to try her other food products and perhaps even obtain a small collection of some of her cookware and tools. I imagine that if I were to be getting married (I'm not getting married, but you know IF I were) I would immediately register for all of her products. Sigh. One day I will have the Giada kitchen of my dreams. Until then, I'm going to try some more of her recipes from this cookbook, maybe one that uses butternut squash to ring in the new season!

Giada is such a Go Austen heroine. She is talented and smart and savvy and beautiful and very much her own woman. You can tell that she's worked very hard to get where she is and that she works for pleasure as well as to make a living. She loves what she does, and that is really inspiring. You go, girl.

Summer to Fall Beauty Staples

  These are some products that I was into this summer that I believe will carry me through the next season:

Revlon ColorStay Mineral Mousse Foundation

(Photo: walgreens.com)

This foundation was seriously my secret weapon this summer. It is awesome. I wear the Fair/Light shade, which is perfect for my skin when I have a slight tan. The formula is just great; it's this really unique liquid mousse that you can apply with fingers, a sponge or a foundation brush and it's super-easy to blend and dries to a perfect, undetectable, airbrushed finish. It's sheer enough that it never gets cakey or obvious, but it does an incredible job of evening out your skin and neutralizing any redness. In addition, the tube is nice and streamlined and perfect for travel. Love.

Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner

(Photo: walgreens.com)

So apparently I have become a slight Revlon stalker, which is weird because I'm usually more into CoverGirl...anyway. This eyeliner is the shizz. I've been using Black/Brown, and it's a great shade and an even better formula; super pigmented, easy to blend, and then it DOES NOT MOVE. It's great and it really makes your eyelashes look thicker if you put it right at the lashline. I anticipate this becoming my new favorite eyeliner ever...might have to get some more colors...gray perhaps?

Stila Convertible Color in Poppy

(Photo: lookfantastic.com)

Stila Convertible Color is such a great product; if you haven't tried them, I highly recommend them. I have them in both Petunia and Poppy: Petunia is a really fabulous coral-y pink that is natural and flattering, and Poppy, which is a sheer, buildable true red. Both colors manage to have both warm and cool undertones, so I can imagine them both being flattering on a variety of skintones. Poppy has been my go-to recently - I apply it with a flat-top cream blush brush (mine is Sonia Kashuk) and slowly build the color until there's a nice flush going on. It goes on very well over the Revlon Mineral Mousse foundation, and it really lasts. A great, versatile product.

Chloe Eau de Parfum

(Photo: fashionfuss.com)

This is a beautiful, rose/peony-based fragrance that I got for my 21st birthday. I got the eau de parfum because the eau de toilette hadn't come out yet, but I just love the fragrance and I knew as soon as I smelled it that I had to have it. Since it's a parfum and is therefore very concentrated, I only need a tiny spritz for it to be noticeable (and it lasts - I put a small amount on last night and I can still smell it on my wrist this morning). Check out this perfume if you like girly, ladylike scents that aren't cupcake-y, coconut-y, or food-y in any way...the scent is both classic and modern, which I love. I could see an Austen heroine wearing it (Emma, of course...it's fit for an English rose), which makes me like it even more!

Love Your City.

(New t-shirt I got from the Gap. Normally I am not into graphic tees...but I couldn't resist.)

I am a woman that has love affairs with cities. I was born in New York and have since lived in both Vancouver and Boston, leaving pieces of my heart in both places that I will never get back. There is something about getting to know a new city that just drives me batty with desire. While New York is my first love and my home, I fell in love with Vancouver when I lived there for six months during my junior year of high school. I learned that I am a city girl, regardless of whether that city is New York or not. When it became time for me to choose a college, Boston University was perfect for me, and I fell in love with both the school and the city. I already feel heartbroken over having to leave Boston; although I know it was time after four years, and as excited as I am to start my life in New York, I feel like I was in a four-year relationship that suddenly and brutally ended. I can't think about Boston without tearing up a little. I mean just look at the gorgeousness:

(Photo: ocweekly.com)

Sigh. It is just delicious. I can't wait to go visit, even though I know it will make me feel like my heart is being torn out. This is why I just HAD to have that GAP t-shirt...I do not LIKE my city or ENJOY my city...it is pure love all the way. Pining, heartwrenching love, to the point where no matter where I am, I will always be missing at least one city. But that is how love goes.

In my attempts to "get over" Boston and get plugged back in to New York, I've been more actively pursuing what NYC has to offer. Exhibit A: the Brooklyn Bridge part movie, which I attended last week with some of my lovely girlfriends. This ended up being one of my favorite New York moments I've ever had...it was a gorgeous night, a perfect 80 degrees with a breeze, they were playing Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis (if you haven't seen this delightful comedy, you MUST check it out), and beyond the movie screen was the most amazing view of New York I've ever seen. It was incredible. Of course, I was enjoying the experience so much that I forgot to take a picture, but here's one that I found:

(Photo: brooklynbridgepark.org)

This picture really doesn't do it justice...in person, the view is just overwhelmingly beautiful, especially for a city-ophile like me. The Movies With a View season is over now for the year, but you best believe that I am going to be there as often as possible next year. Great movies plus some city eye candy equals a fun time for Tara.