I’m not a big fan of mascara.  If my lashes weren’t so ridiculously pale, I wouldn’t ever wear any.  But it does help accent my eyes and make me look more awake, so I do wear it every day.  I’ve been wearing Neutogenas Weightless Volume Wax Free Mascara, because it was easy to take off and didn’t clump.  No remover was needed - it just comes off with your regular face wash.  But it also would fade off by about noon and didn’t provide a whole lot of oomph to my lashes.

So I decided to try the Neutrogena Full Volume Fortifying Mascara.  It is safe for contact lense wearers and isn’t listed as waterproof, so I thought it might easily wash off and not need remover.

I really like this mascara.  It went on thick, but not clumpy - and I didn’t even need to wipe the brush off.  The brush has a hourglass like shape to it that seemed to help the mascara go on evenly with each swipe.  It stays on all day and hasn’t smudged or cried off yet, despite not being waterproof.  It apparently contains ingredients that help nourish your lashes and keep them soft, which they definitely are with the mascara on - no hard stiff lashes here.

As for easy removal, I think I’m just going to have to stop being lazy and start using a remover.  The mascara washes off fairly well with just my face cleanser and water, but did leave the racoon eyes just a little bit.  With remover it all came off easily and quickly.

What do you think off this mascara?  What’s your favorite?  Leave a comment and share your opinion.

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I read a review of the new Neutrogena Wave Power Cleanser in a magazine recently.  It said that the device did a good job of thoroughly cleaning out pores and softened skin.  This time of year, my oily skin likes to also turn dry simultaeously, most recently creating a small crop of blackheads on my forehead.  I thought the Wave might help slough off some of the dry skin and help clean out my clogged pores.

The cute little handheld Wave comes in a variety of colors: pink, blue and green.  It is battery operated and I thought it a nice touch that a battery was included.  It also included a package of the cleansing pads that stick to the velcro-like surface of the Wave.  A button push makes the device vibrate, you wet the attached cleansing pad and away you go.

I liked the foaminess of the cleanser and it did leave my skin feeling soft, though not particularly clean.  You can’t use the device on your eye area, so I had to wash that separately to remove my eye make-up.  Although the vibrations felt nice and probably brought some blood up to the skin, giving me a little bit of a glow, I don’t think that the vibrations really help the product clean any more thouroughly into your pores.  The only other draw back was the cleansing pad was colored with my makeup afterwards and I think it probably kept my skin from truely getting clean.

I tried the device two other ways to try to overcome these drawbacks:

1.  I washed off all my makeup first and then used the wave.  But I did essentially wash my face twice which seems unnecessary and probably doesn’t help with the dryness factor.

2. I used the Wave in the morning.  My face was already clear of makeup and didn’t really need a deep clean.  It was nice to get the oil of the night off, without overdrying as it sometimes is in the morning.  Another handy thing about the device is that it is water-resistant, so you can use it in the shower.

Overall I could probably take it or leave it with this device.  But seeing as it only cost $12 it wasn’t that great a loss to try.

Have you tried the Wave or any other battery operated face cleansing device?  How’d it work for you?  Share your opinions by leaving a comment.

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Around this time of year, I always contemplate dying my hair.  Or getting highlights.  Maybe it’s my skin getting paler without seeing the sun as much or my natural highlights fading, but I feel like my hair has gotten darker and my skin doesn’t look as bright.  I’ve gone to extremes in the past, in part due to feeling like my hair looks dull and in part because I’m bored or have cabin fever.  One time I accidentally dyed my hair the color of a neon pumpkin, not realizing that red dye won’t make blonde hair darker.  2 hours of bleach at the hairdresser and a much shorter haircut got rid of my miscalculation.  I have to remind myself of that every year about this time when I start trolling the hairdye aisles at the drugstore.

I decided to try a at home hair gloss instead this year, thinking that maybe my hair just needed a shiny pick me up and that I couldn’t really turn my hair a freakish color when no color was involved.  There are a few out there to try from, but I chose Clairol Natual Instincts Shine Happy because I had seen it featured in a few magazines and thought it might be less chemical smelling than the other brands.

This product was easy and quick to use - you only have to leave it on for 10 minutes before washing it out.  It did have a pretty strong floral odor, which seemed to be covering up a slight chemical smell.  It comes with a tube of conditioner to be used after you rinse the developed product out and then again once a week to help keep up the shine.

I have to say I was a little disappointed in this product.  Maybe my hair was shiny enough to begin with, but I didn’t really see a difference after I used the product.  I think the conditioner probably did the most, because my hair felt softer after each weeks usage.  So using a deep conditioner would probably have the same effect.

If this is supposed to work just as well as a salon glossing, I’m glad I didn’t spend the money at a salon for unremarkable results.  I think that using a shine serum in either drops or a spray gives a better shine and gloss to my hair.

What do you think?  Did this product work for you?  Have you tried one of the other glossers on the market?  Leave a comment to share your opinion!

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Even if you are good about using a rich conditioner and body lotion, by this time of year you can start to feel like you can’t keep you hair and body moisturized enough.  It can be helpful to do a head to toe moisturizing session once a week.

Moisturizing sessions can use the products you already own or you can whip some up with ingredients from your kitchen.  This should only take 30 minutes, especially if you have all of your ingredients prepared before you get started:

Step 1: Hair moisture
Heat a 1/2 cup of olive oil or 1/4 of conditioner for 30 seconds in the microwave.  Apply it to dry hair, roots to tip.  Comb it through until all strands are well coated.  Cover your hair, turban style with a towel that has been wrung out with hot water.

Step 2: Moisturizing face mask
Remove your makeup and apply a moisturizing face mask or 2 tablespoons of honey heated for 10 seconds in the microwave to damp skin. 

Step 3: Body scrub
To help loosen the armor of dead, dry skin cells that cover your body and block moisturizers from penetrating to your skin, stand in the shower (no water on yet) and scrub your self neck to toes with a moisturizing body scrub.  Play special attention to dry areas, like your knees, elbows and feet.  You can make your own moisturizing body scrub by combining 1 cup of brown sugar with 1/4 of body lotion, body wash or olive oil.

Step 4: Wash it all off
The hair masque should be on for about 10-15 minutes and the face mask on for 5-10 minutes before you wash them off.  Turn on the shower to a comfortable warm temperature.  Shampoo with a moisturizing shampoo to remove the hair mask.  You may have to wash twice to remove olive oil if you used that.  Apply condtioner and leave it on.
Rinse the face mask from your face.  If you want to wash it off, use a moisturing face wash.
The body scrub should be rinsed away by now.  If you skin feels too oily, you can use a moisturizing body wash.
Rinse the conditioner from your hair.
The shower should only last 5 minutes - no dilly-dallying.

Step 5: Moisturize
Dry off quickly from the shower.  Immediately apply body lotion or oil.  Apply a leave in conditioner, if you have one, to the ends of your hair.  Apply a light facial moisturizer.  Get dressed.  Applying moisturizers quickly after a shower helps lock in the water to your skin.  Avoid blow drying your hair if you can.  If it’s too cold not to, use a low setting to dry your hair until it is almost dry and then let it finish drying on it’s own.

In addition to a moisturizing session, here are some tips you keep your skin from getting too parched:

- Keep showers warm, not hot, and keep them to a minimum.  Too hot and too long can stip the moisture from your skin
- If you want to take a bath, be sure to add some bath oil, don’t stay too long and apply moisturizer as soon as you get out
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day
- Avoid caffeinated beverages as they can be dehydrating.  If you want a warm drink, try herbal teas
- Try adding an Omega-3 supplement to your diet

Got any tips for staying hydrated in the cold winter months?  Share yours by leaving a comment.