More from SKINN Cosmetics

I don't know about you but I love watching a pro at work!

In this episode Dimitri used the Patina Eye Shadows, and the Highlight, Blush, Bronze & Sculpt Kit used in the previous episodes is now available on their site. I know you could easily recreate with other products, but if you want that great palette here's the source!

Don't forget to run over to It's a Glam Thing and enter to win the eye shadows used!

Global Goddess Cosmetics

Recently I showed you this great Red Carpet look from Global Goddess Cosmetics, and I promised a review of some of their products at the end of the post. While readily available (you can buy this line from the Global Goddess website and at Victoria's Secret), to me this really seems like an "exotic" line. I think it's the names of the colors as well at the kohl eyeliner- everything makes me think of Bollywood and its beautiful stars! You can see everything that I tried (as well as the shades I tried) above.


Sizzling Serengeti Tribal Eyeshadow Quads
This quad is beautiful. Truly it is. You open the compact (it's one of those paper ones with a mirror and a magnetized closure) and you are confronted by 4 amazing shadows with an embossed pattern. I opened this several days in a row without using it because it was too pretty to mess up.

Once I finally started using this shadow I was pretty happy with it. The colors are beautiful (the real winner is that brown which really has a lot of bronze in it with a touch of shimmer), they blend well and they last for about 12 hours on my lids. I think the Arusha color scheme in particular is beautiful and I might be picking that one up soon.


Moroccan Mystique Lip Veils
Lip Veil = Fancy name for lip gloss.

You know that I love a good lip gloss, and this is no exception! I tried out Mirage, which is described as "A Deceiving Apricot (And Celebrity Favorite!)" I can see why it's a favorite. This peach is a bit sheer but also just a touch pink with some shimmer. Overall it turns into a "your lips but better" pale color that somehow does not wash me out. Add great shine, hydration without stickiness and no flavor and you'll get great gloss!


Chai Cheek Color
Ho hum, just another blush, right? Wrong!

When applied with a good brush, like my MAC 129 brush (yes, mine is from Fafi) this blush creates a glowing complexion that I have never had before. Really. I have blush from pretty much every makeup brand and I am starting to obsess over this one. It doesn't last all day (pretty much it is gone by mid-afternoon) but it is definitely amazing while it lasts!


Cairo Eyes Liquid Kohl Eyeliners
Finally, as good as the other products are, the real standout for me was this liquid eye liner. Normally I would be too intimidated by such a product (I have several unopened liquid liners in my drawer right now that I bought last fall), but some how this liner is different.

The liner is incredibly easy to apply perfectly and it stays put. Simply unscrew the top (which really is a pretty good sized handle for the liner) and you'll find what looks to me like a plastic brush. Honestly, I didn't investigate it too much for fear of destroying my perfect liquid eyeliner. Whatever the brush is, the stiffness is a big asset during application. I pull my eyelid a bit taut and apply into and around the lash line. It really is that easy. I happen to be a bit shaky with things like this and even I get a great line! It lasts all day and well into the night.

Polish of the Day: Essie Risky Business

According to Essie this is a "glam red meets shimmery tangerine," which to me looks like a bright orange-red but definitely tangerine! In person this polish color is even more beautiful than the picture suggests (although this picture is very true to life for the color on me). If you are afraid of joining in on the Orange Nail Trend, this is a more universally flattering and subtle way to do it!

This shade does look quite a bit lighter in direct sunlight (as you can see in the inset above), but then you can see the same color shimmer!

My Beauty Secrets and Everyday Favorites

It's been a while since I updated my Everyday Favorites List, and then lo and behold! I got tagged by Teri over at Aging Fabulous to reveal my beauty secrets, which is a pretty similar list!


My Foundation: Right now I'm using Elizabeth Arden Intervene during the week, I try to avoid foundation on weekends lately, I'm trying to give my skin a bit of a break.

My Mascara: I'm a huge mascara junkie, so I'm constantly changing. Recent favorites are Max Factor Volume Couture and Shu Uemura's Precise Volume

My Blush: I seem to be reaching for MAC Beauty Powder Blush over and over lately. Pretty much the entire collection has taken up permanent residence on my bathroom counter!

My Eye Shadow: Lancôme and MAC

My Day Cream: This seems to be constantly changing, but when I'm between trials I do seem to always come back to Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer SPF 15

My Lipstick: I think the 3 (!!) posts about Lancôme's Pixel Pink have given it away as my favorite shade! (Really, here's the first post, second post and third post) Plus, I have 3 tubes of this limited edition shade. If your counter is out, you can blame me!

My Beauty Product Brand: Too many brands to count

My Essential Beauty Product: Definitely Cetaphil Cream and mascara!

My Favorite Makeup Product: A tossup between MAC, Lancôme and Elizabeth Arden for higher brands, and I'm definitely in love with Max Factor again!

My Perfume: Pretty much anything by Bond No. 9

My Nails: It should be obvious by now that I'm a nail girl, so you can just check out my "basics" over in my manicure routine, but more often than not I'm in OPI, Essie or China Glaze.

My Feet: Same as my nails, but I love to super moisturize my feet with the already mentioned Cetaphil and then put on some socks.

My Hands: My favorite has to be Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve for it's strength and the soothing feeling it gives!

Three Products to bring on a deserted island: I'm theorizing that I'd have the basics such as toothpaste, deodorant, soap and sunscreen. That said, I'd bring my Cetaphil (did you notice that I really love that Cetaphil Cream?), waterproof Max Factor Volume Couture mascara and a multipurpose color for lips and cheeks like a Vincent Longo Stain or Tarte's Cheek Stain.

Woman I admire for their beauty: For their beauty I think Jen Aniston, Catherine Zeta-Jones, both of them are classic and work with what they have

Woman with the Best Sense of Style: I like a classic but updated sense of style, similar to Aniston and CZJ.

My Ultimate Dream: I'm not too far away from this, right now I want the big house, few kids and I'm thinking about what veggies I'd like in the garden. I have professional dreams as well, but I'll keep those to myself for now since I'm interviewing for a great job in just a few days.

How Do I Define Womanhood: This is a toughie that I still can't answer

My Favorite Fashion Publication: Allure!

Polish Tip: Easy Polish Removal

Have you ever had a lot of difficulty removing a polish from your nails? Did you notice that a glitter polish takes about half an hour to remove from your nails? I learned this tip from the girls over at MUA's Nail Board and just had to share it with you!

Pictured above are my nail removal tools. I love the polish remover pots from Cutex, you can easily swirl your fingers around in the enclosed sponge to remove your polish. For every day removal they work great! They even come in "glitter" versions, which have a slightly more robust sponge.

For difficult to remove polish I resort to felt and Acetone. A piece of crafting felt can be easily cut into smaller squares, I like about 3 inches by 4 inches to remove polish from 10 fingers. Use with a bit of acetone and you'll find that you can remove almost anything! The felt is much better at removing any polish than a cotton pad, and when you can get 6 pieces out of a 20 cent piece of felt you'll realize that this is also a much cheaper option.

Knotheads: A New Way to Simplify Your Hair!

Based on that picture it is definitely a bit hard to tell what those swirls of color are or what they do. I think after trying them out that they are really great and they are one of my favorite hair accessories!

Knotheads are basically really thick pliable wire covered in fabric. They come in two lengths, short and long. The short are just a few inches long and are the perfect length to pull your hair back in a simple style, taking the place of a barrette or clip. This was the first hair style I tried out with the Knotheads, primarily because I wear this style pretty much every day (yes, I know it's boring, but it works really well with my current hair cut). I have actually made a few trips lately to look for better clips/barrettes for this look, but the Knothead blew all of those out of the water. I simply pull back my hair the same way as I do with a clip, slip the Knothead under the hair and I like to twist it completely around my hair which is a very simple look that I love! It holds my hair all day without pulling on my hair or scalp.


The long Knothead is extremely versatile. A quick glance at the how-to area of the Knothead website shows how many ways you can use it. My favorite way is in a bun like the picture here. My hair isn't long enough to look this great in a bun, but it is definitely very easy to do this style and it stays put for hours. I also love using the Knothead as a headband. I'm always bothered by headbands that are either too tight (giving me a headache) or that fall off constantly. The Knothead is perfect because you can customize the head band to fit your head!


Knotheads are available at Knotheads.com, but I'm hoping that they'll be available soon in stores (Hear me ULTA? These would be perfect for you!)

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic Exclusive: For a limited time you can get 15% off your Knotheads order! You'll need to use Google Checkout to use the code. Just enter the keyword "quickbeauty" to get your discount, you have until May 28th to place your order!

In An Instant Skin Care

I love my Heidi Klum. Seriously, the woman can do no wrong, other than talking about her love life a little bit too much. But, she looks amazing at all times. Her hair and skin are always perfect, to say nothing of the body.

Now Heidi is coming out with a new skin care line with Guthy-Renker (the people who make Proactiv). The line is meant to be quick and easy, targeting exfoliation, hydration, wrinkle reduction, lifting, firming, and pore minimizing. Yes, all of those things all at once! To me this sounds like the perfect solution to my "no time" mornings.

In An Instant Skin Care

Polish of the Day: Essie Funships

The Turbolon Croc, The New "It" Flat Iron?

I've been having a few "good hair" weeks in a row now. Why? I think there are a few reasons. I've been testing out some new shampoo and conditioner from Ecru, I got a hair cut (at the end of the two weeks, I stretched my color time again to have it look fresh at the Total Beauty Summit) but the main reason is my new flat iron!

My new iron is the Turbolon Croc Wet to Dry Flat Iron, which I picked because I liked the idea of so much control over the temperature, the fast heat up time and I have to admit the idea of styling still damp hair really appealed to me! This truly is a great iron. The plates are ceramic (really, ceramic flat irons are less damaging for your hair, no excuses for plain metal!), the controls are digital and allow me to really have great control. I have mine set to 380, I turned it down to prevent damage but it is definitely hot enough to work great! It heats up in just a few minutes, really helping to speed up my morning routine.

Last week I went to get my highlights and a trim. I finally "outed" myself as a beauty blogger to Shannon, my amazing stylist and colorist. Really, she is fantastic! I told her about my new flat iron, and before I could even mention the name she said "did you get a Croc?" It turns out that pretty much all of the stylists in her salon have been replacing their flat irons with Crocs. Chis and Superstars are being thrown out while Crocs are infiltrating the whole salon! They have started selling them to customers and they are hardly able to keep them in stock!

A quick note about the "wet to dry" styling feature. The main reason stylists tell you to not flat iron your hair when it is damp is obviously water. As the water turns to steam it can really damage your hair. This iron has vents to allow the steam to escape, in theory helping to prevent damage. I asked Shannon her opinion and she would not style damp hair with a flat iron, but she said that some stylists would disagree with her. It's up to you. Personally, I have not yet styled my hair while it is still damp. I'm a bit afraid of anything that the steam could do to my hair. However, I'm not quite as OCD about having every strand 100% dry before using the iron.

My iron came from Misikko, which has great customer service and fantastic prices. I have a feeling that if flat iron trends in Southern California are any indication, you'll be hearing a lot more about Crocs, and this time it will be flat irons instead of ugly shoes!

Photoimaging Analysis: A Scary but Informative Picture

As much as I talk about sunscreen on this blog, I haven't always been so sun aware. I distinctly remember my mom slathering me with sunscreen when I was trying to play in the backyard or at the beach as a kid. In high school I would occasionally lay out in our back yard to get some color, though I was afraid of turning red and usually still wore SPF 15. In college I decided that the reason I had never been tan not because of my pale Irish skin but because of the sunscreen. So, for one summer I worshipped the sun with my roommate and without sunscreen. I finally was "tan" with the aide of sunless tanner. I have regretted that summer for years, and while I have good skin now I'd like to stay that way!

So, I took advantage of the complimentary photo-imaging analysis available at Calidora. They have quite a few locations, so check them out, there might be one near you!

Anyways, it was quite and painless and was quite a bit like the image above (not me, that's from their website). You put your head inside of the white box pictured on the left and a high tech camera takes a picture of the left side of your face (the "drivers side" that gets more sun exposure and therefore usually is worse than the right).

From that single image they can do a huge amount of analysis! First I saw a greatly magnified image of my face, then a UV filter that showed the "hidden damage" and even an image that aged me by 10 years! The software even analyzed my face for wrinkles, pore size, brown spots and smoothness of skin. That info was given to me as a comparable number against other females my age and skin type.

I'm proud to say that I did not have a single wrinkle, therefore I was in the 99th percentile, but my freckles dropped me down to 76th percentile for spots, pores had me at 60 and my texture was a disappointing 51. When I aged by 10 years I stayed wrinkle free but I did become one giant freckle, which really was rather alarming. They did tell me which treatments would help my issues (microdermabrasion for the texture and pore issues, a series of 5 laser treatments for the freckles/spotting), but there was absolutely no pressure to sign up for anything. I'm not quite ready to start lasering and having microdermabrasion treatments, but in a few years I might be. In the meantime seeing that image of me in 10 years was definitely enough to keep me slathering on high SPF sunscreen!

Calidora Skin Clinic

As an aside, in the past few days I have seen commercials from Coppertone promoting their DermaPhoto Booth, which does similar UV analysis. If you're interested the booth is on tour across the US, but the dates are very limited so I would show up early or check out a local skin clinic for analysis instead.