By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife
I never used to get my nails done. Nail polish is completely wasted on me. It lasts about… ok, let me be generous and say 24 hours. That is before the polish gets scuffed or chipped. Usually, there is at least one nail that gets smudged within the hour. So, manicures were never my thing. Simply no worth the time and certainly not the expense. That is, until I tried the “No Chip” (aka gel) mani. That changed everything.
I first tried a No-chip a year ago, right before a big event that I was organizing and [...]

We have mentioned E.L.F. (Eyes, Lips, Face) makeup before in both our Drugstore Essentials article and last year’s Stocking Stuffer Gift Guide. I have personally been a huge fan of E.L.F. makeup for years. The reasons are 1) you can’t beat the price and 2) for the price, you can have both quality and quantity. Indeed, E.L.F. offers premium quality cosmetics and, at these prices, you can afford to have fun and grab the latest colors in eyeshadows and lipsticks, experiment with new colors and shimmers and bronzers…without a trace of guilt.
If you are not familiar with E.L.F. makeup, you [...]

Dry Shampoo used to have stigma attached to it, seen as the lazy person’s answer to hair washing. I first used dry shampoo about 19 years ago, when pregnant with my first child. I was so debilitating-ly nauseous and weak that I couldn’t phantom the idea of keeping my arms above my head long enough to shampoo my hair. Dry shampoo became my secret grooming weapon for years to come. A little applied to the temple and bangs would rid my hair of the second (often third!) day greasiness and at least allow me to pull it back stylishly without [...]

It’s mid-July and it’s getting painfully obvious that, by now, I will not manage to get sun-kissed color on my depressingly white body through normal outdoor activities. I have not had the time – nor the desire – to sit in the sun the get that natural glow. I’m going to have to fake it. And by fake, I mean a “natural”, with natural sunless tanners.
As most of you, I have become acutely aware of the toxic chemicals abundantly present in our personal care and homecare products. I am making a progressive effort to move everything to all-natural products. That [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
I saw it on the fashion runways (well, I mean on the photographs of the runways) but now I am seeing it on the streets and, I must say that I really love this new trend. Metallic Nail Polish creates bling without having to wear it. From metallic silver, gold and brass, to metallic green, black and plum colors. It can give a dramatic look to an outfit, but can easily be worn for daytime wear also, especially with short nails. My treat once a month is to get a pedicure. I usually skip the [...]

We work so hard – Pilates, yoga, the gym – to keep our bodies toned and most of us have completely ignored the muscles in our faces. I was even introduced to a facial fitness regimen about five years and promptly forgot to do any of the exercises.
And now, five years later, at 47 and still resistant to cosmetic procedures (though often tempted), I think it’s time to revisit the practice of facial fitness. It’s less invasive and certainly less expensive than surgery and needles.
If you want to play & experiment, there’s a panoply of books out there on the [...]

Ever wanted to try that luscious emerald green eyeliner but didn’t feel like risking $18 in case it didn’t work out? Might you or someone you know be a sucker for sample makeup? If so, you’ll want to hear about Birchbox.com.
Birchbox is a subscription service that will send its monthly subscribers a lovely, hand-packaged box with four to five luxury beauty samples. Cost? $10 per month and it includes shipping. The samples include well-known brands like Laura Mercier, NARS, Stila and Phyto. They also include lesser-known, hard-to-find, niche and prestige brands. Beauty samples can include makeup, skincare, body and hair [...]

You have probably run across these Orabrush videos already. They are a brilliant example of marketing work that actually engages viewers, creates a brand name and produces sales. The adorably snarky humor used in the Orabrush videos is a clever way to deal with the very unappealing subject of bad breadth and tongue cleaning. Gag.
Whether or not you have seen these videos, thought the actor goofy but endearing (his name is Austin Craig) and bought the product, you should know about the very serious (read in a deep, low voice) importance of tongue cleaning and scraping. Indeed, I first learned about [...]

Here’s a skin care line with a great product AND a great story. I was reminded of this brand the other day when I encountered, way in the back of my bathroom cabinet, a nearly empty bottle of the wonderful Shea Butter moisturizing lotion which had been given to me by the wonderful Jennifer at J & P Yoga. Greatest lotion ever. Let me tell you about this company.
Alaffia’s Sustainable Skin Care line is based on community empowerment AND Shea Butter. But let’s get our Shea Butters straight. This is NOT of the refined type that we find in most [...]

By Audrey van Petegem, Senior Editor
This is a great story and, as you know I love great stories! It all started one night when Rita Sevigny was getting ready for a dressy party. She had a nasty blemish on her arm and did not want anyone to see it. Rita decided to cover it with a Band-Aid. We have all been there, it looks just as bad. Here we are, all dressed up and think maybe one of our children’s bandaids, like Dora or Spiderman would be better, at least humorous. Wrong. So Rita got out her stash of [...]