Sunday, March 9, 2008

Product Jurl

I love buying make-up, lotions, and all kinds of miracle products guaranteed to transform me into the perfect woman and the cuter the packaging the better (if it's pink or retro, I'm in). Sadly, most cosmetics are nothing special and so I fail to develop an emotional connection, making them one time buys. But I have found a few items that I cannot live with out and I thought I'd share them with you here.

First of all, anything by Benefit is fantabulous! And they have super cute packaging as a bonus. A few Benefit must haves are She-Laq, Mr. Frosty, and Lip Plump (I have several others, but will hold them back for a later installment). She-Laq might be one of the greatest finds of the 21st century- I don't want to over play this product, but it rocks. She-Laq is a clear sealer for your eye-liner, mascara, and probably anything else you don't want to run down your face. Before She-Laq, my upper eye-liner would smudge onto my eye lid when I opened my eyes. Talk about frustrating! Perfect pink lid with a black line running through the center! With She-laq this is no longer a problem. It worked so well I started brushing it onto my mascaraed lashes (with the mascara brush included in a set of small brushes that comes with She-Laq) and now my mascara stays put instead of sneaking off my sad little lashes to sprinkle my under eye area with flecks and specks of black goo making me look like a hooker after a long night. If you have trouble keeping your make-up where you want it then run, don't walk, to the nearest Benefit supplier for She-Laq. $28.00






Benefit's Lip Plump is a beige cream (kind of looks like concealer) that is supposed to make your lips...well....plump. I don't know when our country became so obsessed with giant lips, but I've been sucked in to this fat lip vortex with a vengeance so I occasionally purchase some product promising collagen-like results with out the cost or pain. I don't know if Lip Plump really works, but I feel like it works and that's all that really matters. Plus, I think it helps my lipstick stay on which is also very important as I've not tried the She-Laq on my lips. Maybe I should. $20.00



Mr. Frosty is a white pencil for use around your eyes as a brightener. It never fails that when I have on some Mr. Frosty someone compliments my eyes. It's the weirdest thing. I put on my eye shadow then run Mr. Frosty across my lash line, topping it all off with black/brown eye liner. And that's how Mr. Frosty heats up my eye-makeup....get it? Heats up? Mr. Frosty? Anyway..... $18.00




No. 7 (Boots) is a cosmetic/skin care line I stumbled on at Target, Super Target that is, and the No. 7 eye make-up remover is the best I've ever used. It strips off face paint without taking any skin with it. It's a really lovely make-up remover. And it's a British product so I feel very cosmopolitan and sophisticated when I use it. Not sure of the cost in American dollars, but whatever it is it's worth it.



Another item I don't feel complete without is Origins Ginger Gloss. Leaves skin silky smooth without leaving you feeling like an oil slick. And this stuff really softens skin. Not to gross anyone out, but my arms get these little teeny tiny bumps, (just a few, I'm not disgusting, really!), but not when I'm using this stuff. $17.50.



Now, this one is old news, but it's worth mentioning- Maybelline Great Lash Mascara is the best mascara on the planet. Yes, that's right, the green and pink mascara tube that your mother probably used in the 1970s is the best mascara. And just because your mother used it doesn't make it totally lame, comes close, but Great Lash is saved by its awesomeness. I've used Estee Lauder, Clinique, and pretty much any free sample I've ever been given, but nothing out lashes the Great Lash. I love it so. If I could take only one item of make-up with me to a deserted island it would be this mascara. Don't know why exactly I'd need any make-up on a deserted island, but let's just say Ben Affleck is my co-castaway and there's a "get to know you" happy hour- so I'm taking this mascara. $5.21




Finally, I'd like to mention a non-cosmetic product, Thymes Nurery Mist in Sweetleaf Baby. This room spray smells like what you thought your baby would smell like instead of the poop, spit-up, urine scented goo-ball he or she really is (except for the few precious minutes after bath time that only last until the next bottle or next nacho cheese dirty diaper- yuck). This room spray smells sooooo good and it lasts a good while after you hose down the diaper pail perimeter. I use it all over the house and wish I could find this scent in a perfume (Love's Baby Soft is as close as it comes). If my husband smelled like this stuff he might actually get some lovin.



Well, those are the products I've chosen to highlight on this week's installment of Jurlpower. Stayed tuned as I try out Bene-tint by Benefit (liquid lip and cheek color) which I hear is blush-tacular.

3 comments:

Elle Woods said...

Jurl, I must respectfully disagree with your assessment of Maybelline Great Lash mascara. I'm always baffled whenever it lands on those "Best of" lists, as I've found it to be completely underwhelming. As for the Benetint, I tried it years ago in law school and found the product difficult to apply and the color to be unnatural. Not worth the time and effort required to apply it. Your mileage may vary, of course. If you're in need of a new Benefit fix, then I suggest the new "Throb" blush. I don't wear a lot of Benefit products, but I like this blush a lot.

Anonymous said...

I don't like the pink n' green Great Lash, either. Too clumpy and always gets on my upper cheek during application. Lancome Definicils is the ONLY way to go! I am a stranger to Benefit, perhaps I need to try. But I like to be uniform with my products (except for my Lancome Definicils) so I don't know that I can stray from my personal fave brand of cosmetics. I like everything to be lined up on my counter, all shiny and black with the interlocking white C's smiling up at me. Benefit might be too trendy for an old gal like me, too.

Misti D. Mosteller said...

Nothing you say can take me away from Great La-aa-aa-ssh.
Nothing you can do cause I'm stuck like glue to Great La-aa-aa-ash! You may not like its clumping action, but it keeps my lashes, in fashion! I'm tellin you from the start I won't be torn abpart from Great Lash!