Lengthen Your Lashes

Over the past few weeks I've been using Tarte's multiplEYE natural lash enhancer.  It is formulated without parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate, and synthetic dyes and fragrances.

I'd wanted to try Revitalash or Latisse, but I couldn't really justify getting it.  I was scared of the reviews that claimed that using these products changed the color of your eye so who knows what else they could have done?  When Tarte came out with this product, I decided to give it a try.

My eyelashes are short and straight, but I definitely noticed growth after using this product.  It's a little pricey, at $65 for a tube that'll last about two months.

You definitely have to follow the directions exactly, so that means using it every day on clean eyelids, which was probably my downfall.  It also stings a little bit after application, but nothing terribly unpleasant.

So will I buy it again?  Probably not.  It did work for me, but it was hard for me to remember to put it on and failing to put it on clean eyelids meant that it wouldn't work.  However, if you know you're going to be diligent about it, it's definitely worth trying out.

Finally, I'd just like to remind all readers to enter into my giveaway!

Freezing Hair

I've gone through three years of college without owning a hair dryer.  My roommates have always had them but I hated drying my hair because it was so time consuming and it gets just so hot - not to mention hair dryers consume a ton of energy.

I was at Target a few months ago looking for a lamp, and ended up with a hair dryer.  I hadn't planned on buying it, but I saw the "Eco" mode setting on this hair dryer, which promised to use less energy than a regular dryer and I was intrigued.  It has three add ons - a diffuser, a concentrator, and a beachwaver (shown in the above picture).

I have to say that I think all the different attachments will work better for someone who doesn't have naturally stick-straight hair.  I'm Asian, and my hair air dries straight - I can't even curl my hair without it becoming straight within a few hours, so most of the attachments left me with hair that virtually looked the same as if I had just dried it by hand.  I was, however, pleasantly surprised by the beachwaver, which left my hair tousled for the whole night.

Skin Quenching

I have extremely dry skin.  When I go from Washington, DC back home, I can feel the drop in humidity in my face.  Couple that with the harsh winter dryness, and my skin feels like a desert.  When I was in DC, my skincare regime was working fine.  But when I came home, I felt like I was battling my face.  Normal moisturizers didn't work, and my skin was flaking.  I tried my regular moisturizer three times a day, four times a day, five times a day (which wasn't even practical).  I tried using heavier, petroleum-based creams, which worked a little better but felt heavy and gross on my face.


Enter Caudalié.  Caudalié is a French based skincare company that works only with natural ingredients.  Founded in 1993 after a couple discovered that the grape seeds from their vineyard contained tons of vitamins that skin needs.  Caudalié does not use any parabens, phenoxyethanol (a preservative that can cause damage to the nervous central system), ingredients of animal origin (hurray for you vegans!), mineral oils or colorings, or sodium laureth sulfate (a foaming ingredient that contains carcinogens).  Also important to me is that they don't test on animals.

My mother had a tube of the Pulpe Vitaminée 1st Wrinkle Cream which I tried and instantly fell in love with.  I don't have any wrinkles but this lotion acts as a preventative.  Wrinkles aren't a major concern of mine, but this lotion wakes my face up and makes it feel smooth.  Best of all?  I use it once a day and my skin is smooth and moisturized for the rest of the day.  I am absolutely AMAZED by this product and can't wait to try more of this brand's offerings.  The one downside?  It's expensive for a small bottle - $58.  However, in defense of this, it works and you need a tiny tiny amount to get through the entire day.  Relative to the $18 drugstore lotion I use currently (x5 a day!), this is practically a bargain.

I'd gladly spend this much on this lotion again (though I think I want to try some of the other lotions first).  It quenches my notoriously hard to please skin more than any other lotion I've ever tried.  It's not greasy or heavy.  And it's one-and-done.

With Love from Greece

I even liked the light blue - a color I probably would never have bought on my own!

Sephora has this amazing eyeliner holiday set by my favorite makeup company, Korres.

It comes with 10 eye pencils: two black (one soft, one regular), one gold, one silver, one grey, one lavender, one navy, one light blue, one brown, and one green.  These eye pencils normally retail for $16, and prior to this purchase I've had my soft black and brown eye pencils for a few months, but this set is $32.50 at Sephora and comes with colors I'd wanted to try (like gold!) but couldn't justify spending $16 dollars for.  So a $160-valued set for $32.50 makes for ridiculous savings of $127.50!

Korres is a beauty company based in Greece that works only with natural ingredients.  They don't use mineral oils, silicones, or other non-biodegradable ingredients, nor do they test on animals.

This exclusive holiday gift set is a real steal, so treat yourself (like I did) to some great eye pencils.  I even got my friend, Katie, to convert and she loves these eye pencils now (her favorite is the soft black).

More about the ingredients after the jump: