Spring Cleaning

I know ladies, it has been quite a while since I have posted. But I had recently bought some new products and wanted enough time to review before I write it in stone.
I've actually have been using this cleanser for a while but am only writing about it now.
For spring/summer since your skin changes so much, I've been using "lighter" moisturizers. I absolutely adore Shiseido products. Particularly their "Skincare" line. I recently received a free sample upon purchasing their day moisturizer and I have been hooked ever since.
Since I have such sensitive skin this works perfectly. The Skincare Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam has worked wonders for my face. First off, this actually makes your skin feel clean. I feel like every trace of makeup, dirt and oil is taken off with this cleanser. Secondly, it is so so gentle, I can't believe I only JUST discovered it.
Big tip: A little goes a long way. You don't need to squeeze a lot out of this tube. This cleanser packs a punch!
At $28 it's not cheap, but I can honestly say I bought one tube in December and I am only just replenishing so it is totally worth it

I remain yours,
The CCW

Some Kind of Wonderful

Girls!
Spring is in the Air and Summer is right around the corner.
For those winter skin blues, I highly recommend "Benefit Wonder-Mitt"
I used to use exfoliating scrubs in the shower, but that was before I discovered The Wonder-Mitt. This mitt is only $14 and can be used with your $3 bodywash.
One side is terrycloth to clean your body, the other side is an exfoliator.
This mitt was designed to stimulate circulation in your body, but all I know is it makes my skin baby soft!
I recommend using at least 3 times a week so that your skin absolutely glows!!!
At $14, I think it's worth the risk.
I love love love Benefit products. Everything I've tried I've loved, so I recommend it. Highly.

I remain yours,
The CCW

Fools Gold

Ok, so my girlfriend Angela has been asking me to post the "negatives", the stuff I don't like. I told her "In due time my dear, but, so far, I've liked everything".
Well........I've been duped ladies. I read online the other day about "John Frieda" products. Now, I wasn't a "huge" fan of the Brilliant Brunette products that he put out, but I was reading online about his "Luminous Color Glaze". I have a client, who is the model for this line and she raved about it. I thought I would give it a try.
I read the bottle carefully before I even bought it. You are supposed to shampoo and condition as normal and use this after. This is the line that totally confused me "Wash hands thoroughly". WHAT? But I'm in the shower, "What"?????? So tonight as I showered, I FINALLY understood what the directions meant.
First of all, the product is dark brown. Fine, ok, dark brown. The instructions say to just put enough to cover from root to end. After I put the product in, I got it. Wash Hands Thoroughly. OMG, This Effin product dyed my hands brown. I actually had to scrub. And when I say scrub, I mean, I had to take my loofah and SCRUB the crap out of my hands to get the brown off.
After I got out of the shower, I noticed my scalp............there were red/brownish "spots" along the hairline. I had to use toner to remove them.
In conclusion, is my hair as luminous as I thought it would be?? HECK NO! It doesn't look any different!!!!! I expected to look like a movie star... Instead, I came out looking just like me :(
Not cool John Frieda, Not Cool!!!!!!!

Please please please, do not waste the $10 on this product! You're better off buying Frederic Fekkai's "glossing cream"

I remain yours,
The CCW

Technical Difficulties

Sorry my beauties!!!!
I had some difficulties, but I'm back on track. I'm sorting through my delivery from Sephora and will report back on some new products shortly.

I remain yours,
CCW

Beauty Insider

Okay my gorgeous ladies (and gents)

I think I need to give you a little "insider" tip on what's going on in the beauty world. If you ask Mooch and any of my girlfriends my one store I would max out my credit card to, the answer is simply one word..... "Sephora". I won't lie. I would literally spend my whole paycheck in that store. It is a complete beauty mecca catering to makeup and skincare junkies like myself.
About a year ago, I was online and saw something about becoming a "Beauty Insider" , so I joined.

Girls, the great thing is it is completely free, no obligations...... nothing. And wait until I tell you the perks, yowza! Once your "Beauty Bank" reaches 100 points ($100) you will receive a Deluxe free sample. That doesn't count the 3 free samples you receive just from buying online. Totally worth it. The first time I hit 100 points, I got a sample of Benefit's "Benetint". I also received a sample of Smashbox's "Afterglow" lipgloss. PLUS, for my birthday I got a trial size of Bliss' "Body Butter", my ultimate, most favorite body moisturizer.
They also have once in a lifetime sales just for beauty insiders. Sephora just offered me Clinique's whole line of "Black Honey" for $20. It was worth $75. That's just the first thing they offered me. They just sent me an email to buy the wonderful French Line "Caudalie" for only $56, and it's worth $87

So my point is, sign up, it's totally free and you can really benefit from joining. Each time you go to the counter, if you don't have your insider card, give your email address you used when you signed up. Trust me, it's worth the 2 extra minutes.


I remain yours,
CCW

Got Any Grrrrapes!

It's been difficult for me to find an eyeliner that looks natural. Black is way too dramatic, and brown, well, even brown can look too "done up".
I needed something for ever day where people looked at me and think "Wow, she doesn't have any makeup on and she looks FABULOUS" Ok, well, no one would really be thinking that, but hey, a girl can dream.
I have come to find that the plum colors looks more natural on me than brown.
So on a recent outing to Lord & Taylor I stopped by Clinique and looked at eyeliners. I'm partial to eyeliners that you do not have to sharpen because convenience is key to me. I don't want to waste time sharpening an eyeliner, I want it ready when I need it. The saleslady showed me
Quickliner for Eyes
First she brought out Violet, too dark, WAY TOO DARK.
Then she brought out Grape! PERFECT! PERFECT! It looks totally natural on me. It's a great pencil because it is a twist up pencil PLUS it has a smudger on the other end.
I am a huge fan of this color, it's just grape enough so I don't look overdone when I'm running into my 9 AM meeting!

They have several different shades, so pick out the right one for you!

I remain yours,

CCW

Take 2 and Call me in the Morning......

Okay ladies!
Ever feel like your skin is just blotchy and dull? I have a great homeopathic recipe for you.
Take 7-8 aspirin (not 2 like the title states), mix with warm water, enough to make a paste. Once the aspirin dissolves, spread over your face. Yes, I said your face. Wait until it dries, and wash off with cool water. VOILA! Gorgeous glowing skin!
The best part about this is it's extremely cheap. Drugstore.com has it for $10.99
No point in spending hundreds of dollars on those fancy serums or masks. This one can be done up to twice a week!
Another trick to do instead of leaving it on until it dries, use it as an exfoliator, works wonders as well!
Try it out and let me know what you think!

I remain yours,
The Certified Cosmetics Whore (CCW)

Super Mario!

I consider myself pretty lucky when it comes to the acne department. Occasionally at that time of the month, I will get a few here and there.
I've tried alot of homeopathic treatments but nothing really worked. I tried the 'ole "toothpaste overnight thing". Nothing. I tried Retin-A but all it did was dry out my face along with the zit, then I looked worse.
A few years back I think I was reading my Lucky Magazine and Anne Hathaway swore by
Mario Badescu Drying Lotion. I think she had said they dried up overnight and were gone by morning.
Heck, it was worth a shot, right?
The other day, a tiny pimple popped up on my chin overnight. Nothing to worry about. Tiny, noone will see. During the day, it had showed it's true self and by the end of the day, it was Mt. Everest. "OMFG", I cried as I looked at myself in the gym........it was time for the big guns. I was breaking out Super Mario.

Now, I think we should all know that nothing ever makes a pimple disappear just like that. It did not make my pimple go away overnight at all. I've been using it for 2 days now and my pimple is dried out but here's the real beaut......it doesn't dry out my skin at all! This is why I love this stuff. I wouldn't rave about it normally, because I'll admit, I believed Anne Hathaway when she said they dry up overnight. Silly me.
Definitely use this stuff at night, as the color is bubble gum pink! I accidentally forgot I had put it on and went to walk my dog early the next morning, and didn't realize why my neighbor was looking at me with her head tilted and her brow furrowed, until I came back in and looked at myself in the mirror. OOPS!
It's $17 if you do decide to take the plunge. Try it out, let me know what you think.

I remain yours,
The Certified Cosmetics Whore

Feeling H-I-P

I've been hearing really great things about the new line of Loreal eyeshadows.
The line is called H-I-P (High Intensity Pigments).
Last Saturday, the Mooch and I decided to go out on a date, so I wanted to wear the flirtiest eye-shadow I could. For some reason, I've been really into Purple eyshadow lately. And not Plum color purple, Violet Electric Purple (it's a good thing my job isn't actually "naming" the eyshadow colors, I would be fired in 2 seconds flat).
Anyway, HIP eye-shadow is sold as a duo, I bought Flamboyant. Exactly the purple I was looking for plus a great, yellow/gold color.
Loreal was not kidding. These colors are truly High Intensity. The good thing about these eye-shadows is they look exactly the same on my eyes as they do in the packaging. No guessing game there. The great thing is, they stay put. As I get older and I get deeper creases in my eyelids, I need to concentrate on eye-shadows that won't fall into the creases.
I used the violet color on the top lids, put the yellow/gold in the middle of the lid, to tone down the violet a bit. Then dabbed a bit of the gold in the corner of my eyes on the bottom.
Play around with them, the colors are so so pretty and at only $7 a pop, it's worth a try.

Let me know what you think!

I remain yours,
The Certified Cosmetics Whore

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

Some of my girlfriends know a little over 2 years ago, while giving myself a pedicure and using that awful callus cutter, I cut myself. BAD. I won't go into detail, but let's just say a whole layer of skin on the back of my foot.... GONE.
That being said, obviously that awful foot razor was thrown out as soon as I could walk to the garbage can. I needed a new tool that would make my feet as smooth as a baby's bottom but wouldn't put me in the hospital.
I was certainly not going to give up wearing heels, toting around the city in slippers is not an option. I started my search on finding the best foot buffer out there. I bought pumice stones, files, callus stones, but nothing seemed to make my feet as soft as I wanted to.
I started to read some reviews in my Allure Magazine (P.S. I believe every woman should have a lifetime subscription to this magazine) and they had mentioned Diamancel Foot Files from Bliss.
I quickly went online to see what it was going to cost me. OMG, $50 for one foot file? NO WAY. NO WAY. There was no way I was spending that much money on a foot file. This thing must be made of Diamonds or something. Touche! But they are! They actually use diamond chips in these foot files. Well, that explains the steep price.
So, one day, after a few glasses of wine, I went online, took a deep breath, and ordering the file, BUT, I didn't just order 1, no, that would be too practical. I ordered 3. I went all the way. The total price for all 3 was $115, but I actually saved $20 by ordering them together in a pack. Great! $20, that's almost a weekly metrocard purchase.
Now I know alot of people think I'm crazy for spending $115 on foot files???? Hear me out.
The pack comes with #11, The Tough Buffer (MY FAVE), #20 The Conquerer, and #10, The Classic Big Buffer. Talk about a baby's bottom, my feet look so purdy!

In the end, I will have to admit, it was the best $115 I have ever spent. These files truly live up to their reputation. They are amazing. My feet have never looked better.
I'm saving money in the end because I am not going out for as many pedicures. I can do it right at home!
I recommend all 3 files, but I must warn you. If you use them, you will NEVER be able to go back to other foot files.

I remain yours,
The Certified Cosmetics Whore