Whitening Listerine Quick Dissolving Strips

About a month back I was contacted by some marketing people at Listerine to test out one of their new products. Whitening Listerine Quick Dissolving Strips, a tooth whitening product that dissolves in your mouth as it works. Apply them correctly, and you have a quick, mess-free way to brighten your smile.

And we all like to have a bright smile.

While my first use of the strips was a little on the gross side, I've been pretty happy with them ever since. I really didn't know what to expect with the first use and despite the excellent use instructions, I think I had them on the wrong way around so it was kind of foamy and a little hard on my stomach.

The second time was much better and very easy. Because the strip is really flexible, I could mold the strip around my less-than-straight teeth. People with small teeth can even cut to strip to fit their mouths better.

I've been using them about twice a day since for about three weeks, until I got a cold, which put all whitening projects on hold.

Generally, I've found them really convenient to use, applying them during my streetcar ride to work, before bed, even after my lunch break. For me they completely dissolve in about 15 minutes and I started noticing whiter teeth after about four days.

Along with my whitening kit, I also got a bunch of free samples, which I gave to friends and colleagues. Reactions to the product have varied from grossed out to positive, yielding some excellent user feedback:

-Kinda gross, but they fit better than the usual strips
-I love them. They're really easy to use
-These will be perfect for my wedding prep
-Makes my teeth feel furry
-They're really easy to use when you put them on the right way
-Tastes like I'm licking a cupboard (*I have no idea what this means or what this person keeps in their cupboards)

A colleague who tested the strips for me said she really liked how easy they were to use and how there was very little mess. She admitted that she drinks a lot of wine and eats fresh blueberries each day and while her teeth usually stay white in spite of that, she's going to keep the strips around for after times when she has a lot of wine. I now keep a set in my purse for post wine occasions at her suggestions.

Basically, they're quick and easy to use. Especially if you don't have a spare 30 minutes, twice a day to sit around with strips or trays in your mouth. They're an excellent and affordable solution to whitening on the go.

If you'd like to try some, the nice people at Listerine will send you some for free. Check out the link here.

HRH

Darphin Arotiva Eye & Lip Contour Gel

One of my former bosses took me aside at the age of 27 and said "no matter what you do, use a good eye cream." Looking at her astoundingly youthful looks, I took it to heart.

For those of us who choose to smile and smirk their way through life, wrinkles are going to happen. While a "dance like no one is watching" approach to aging is empowering and all, I'll use whatever I can to keep those bad boys fine and shallow.

Just before the holidays Chanel discontinued my beloved Age-Delay Eye Cream. You don't even know how much I loved that stuff. I'd been using it for about five years and it got me compliments like "did you swallow a fairy?" (thank you Mel!). Gel based which helped with puffiness, perfect for the first stages of aging skin and those Coco wearing clowns in Paris pulled it off the market in favour of an "energizing multi-protection creme" with SPF. SPF, right by my eyes. SPF that makes my skin go postal. Oh and it's milky, not a gel, so you don't get the same cooling effect. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I'd never say that Chanel is dead to me, cause I world without Chanel is no world I want to be a part of, but this was the first time they'd really let me down.

My sage former boss swore by Darphin, so off to Darphin I trotted, the clerks at the counter salivating at the prospect of getting hooked for life. They hooked me up with the Arotiva Eye & Lip Contour Gel. Something akin to the Chanel gel in consistency.


Sadly they also piled me with all these serums, giving me really difficult and not particularly clear instructions on how to use it. Do I use the serum before the cream? Do I use it twice a day? Why does it smell like oranges? I had many questions and over the next few months I tested a number of serum/gel variables and came to this conclusion:

The gel is awesome. I use it twice a day and despite lifestyle changes that have meant less sleep, my eyes look pretty excellent for 31. The serum does nothing but smell and irritate my eyes.

They, the Darphin folks, suggested that without the serum you might as well give up and cover your head in a bag (okay I may be making that part up, but they did stress its importance in the beauty regimen). Perhaps I wasn't paying enough attention to how and when to use it, but it did nothing for me. I also suspect that they gave me the wrong kind of serum for my skin. Maybe people with dry skin would find the stuff I had more effective?

Long story short (too late), the eye gel is great. Cooling, protecting and you don't need a huge amount of it to make a difference. I'm still using the same container I got in December, using it twice a day and I think it might make it to next December. With longevity like that, it makes the $96 price tag pretty reasonable.

HRH

DiorShow Blackout Mascara

Dawn and I had a happenstancial meeting at the Eaton Centre during lunch this week that, unsurprisingly, ended in a visit to Sephora. That place is always more fun with your friends. While there I realized that it had been awhile since I'd been in there which meant that it had also been awhile since I replenished my mascara supply.

Mascara is a gateway makeup. You start with something innocuous like Great Lash Mascara, one of the beauty world's best bang-for-your-buck items. And as great and cheap as it is, there comes a point where you just need something more.

So you walk into a beauty store and view the wall of great eye-enhancing options. I've tried out my share of mascaras. I will always hold a special place in my heart for Lancome and the love I will always have for Flextencils and Hypnose. I've flirted with items from Stila, been underwhelmed by Shu Umerea and even dabbled in some Benefit BadGal Blue. All good steps towards my latest mascara love.



So with much pride I share with you DiorShow Blackout Mascara. Admittedly I wasn't blown away by it's original recipe, but this kohl-based, blackest-of-blacks version is awesome in a tube. I get lashes so long, full and dark and it's almost inappropriate. Blackout is my new normal. So much so that I find it hard to go back to anything else. I think the only place I can go from here is false eyelashes.

I used it on a client recently who was going for a very dramatic Bridget Bardot look and I don't think any other mascara would have been up to the job of such deep, dark, sultriness. Needless to say, this one gets a huge endorsement from me.

Awesome in a tube.

HRH

MAC Brush Cleanser

You clean your brushes, right? After every use, just like you're supposed to? If you're saying yes right now, I bet you floss regularly and iron your sheets too.

It's funny. When I'm painting on canvas, I clean all my paintbrushes right away. I suppose because I'm usually running out of the house shortly after I paint my face that my makeup brushes don't get the same quality treatment.

Now I always wash my brushes before and after I do a makeup job. Always. Other people's health and hygiene are stake. But when it's just me, I confess, I can go waaaaay to long between brush washings. Like weeks too long. And yeah, that's just kind of gross, but I know there are some people out there who just don't wash their brushes, ever. Ewww.

Brushes are lovely places for bacteria and other such evils to conglomerate. A quick washing and you're in the clear from all those nasties. I mean, think about it for a minute. You spend how much on cleansers, facial treatments, makeup and brushes trying to make your skin look amazing, but if you don't clean your brushes regularly, you might as well be washing your face with rats. Also your makeup goes on better as the colour isn't contaminated and you're not fighting with residual goop.

So now that I have you concerned about bacterial infections, breakouts and a nasty case of pink eye, let's talk brush cleansers. Since good brushes are made a lovely fibres like goat and boar hair, it's a good idea to use a very gentle cleanser. I'm a fan of the MAC brush cleanser. It costs about $10 and does a nice job. It's pretty easy to use and since most of my brushes are MAC, I feel pretty confident about it prolonging their life. I use paper towel or a clean tea towel to dry them off after rinsing and lay them out to air dry.

If you don't feel like throwing down $10 every so often, you can also use baby shampoo, as it's also tremendously gentle. Make sure you dilute it though. I tend to use it for deep cleaning. Benefit used to make a combination makeup remover/brush cleaner, which they discontinued a few years back. However, gentle makeup remover can also be used as a brush cleaner. It's still removing makeup after all.

What matters most is that you get your brushes clean, regularly. Make it part of your cleaning schedule and stop rubbing nasty old makeup on your face every day.

HRH

CHI Ceramic Flat Iron PINK

Recently a pink CHI flat iron made its way into my life. It's almost identical to the regular black CHI, but pink. Beautifully pink. Something that makes you look pretty and is pretty at the same time. A rarity with beauty tools. But now that it was pretty on the outside, would it still deliver the awesome straightening powers we've come to expect from CHI?

I did a test on my hair, which admittedly is like adding black to coal. My hair is straight; annoyingly, persistently and conveniently straight. On a usual day, it gave my ends fantastic finish and added a bit more movement. I raised the ante as much as I could by sleeping on damp hair and ironing out the funkiness in the morning. The CHI worked so well and so quickly that I may start doing this more and score 30 more minutes of sleep in the morning.

To really test the powers of the iron, I recruited my favourite Guinea pig, Natasha. What I have in straight hair powers, she counters in curl. See pony tail below for evidence:



Now this was the first time I've ever really ironed curly hair. Which I think makes it a pretty good test run for usability by the average girl. Being the curly hair novice that I am, I didn't add a straightening agent and we did it from dry hair that had been in a pony tail all day (ideally we would have blown her hair out, put in some straightening serum and then ironed - a bit of process for for any curly-haired girls getting ready for a big night). Madness I know. The level of difficulty on this maneuver was high.

Now I may have bobbled a little on my execution, but I think, as you will see below, I nailed the landing.



From heat up to completion it took about 20 minutes. All I added was some glossing serum at the end (as I didn't even think about adding something like that beforehand, silly me), a shot of hairspray to counter fly-aways and voila!

The CHI was easy to use. It has a rotating cord, so it doesn't get tangled as you twist it in your hand. It heated up and cooled down quickly. Most importantly, the results were great and easily achieved.

There are certain beauty tools that it's wise to invest in. And by invest in, I don't mean buy a cheapo version. If you want great results, you need good tools. A good hairdryer, hot rollers and a ceramic flat iron. Ceramic tools emit infrared heat, which we've discussed before, heats the hair from the inside out, as opposed to drying it from the outside in. Don't believe me? Trying ironing your hair with a non-ceramic tool and watch the split ends arrive.

I know the price tag is a little high. In the past, I thought I could get get good iron results by using a $50 cheapo knock off. I couldn't. Not even the graces of good genetics could compare to the results from the real thing. So put a little extra in the piggy bank and save up for some shiny, smooth hair.

HRH

NARS Night Series Mini Palette

Back on the beauty wagon again kids.

I have a huge backlog of products to review, so my apologies for writing about seasonal products whose season has passed. Not that it's completely wrong to wear dark green or dark purple eyeshadow in the spring, but this particular, lovely palette was part of the NARS 2007 holiday collection. Can we all just pretend that the holiday in question was Victoria/Memorial Day and I can feel a little less behind?



Now we can't talk palette until I do my usual pitch about the brilliance of palettes. All the colours you need for accent and impact put together in an idiot-proof package. Honestly, life needs more of this.

I usually write about how a makeup product has changed my life. Well, this is one of the few products I've found that I want to change my life for. These six beautiful and sparkly shadows make me yearn for the kind of life where I have reason to wear them on a near daily basis. An even more glamorous life where it's sexy, smoky eyes 24/7.

Practically speaking, I can wear them once, maybe twice a month. There have been moments when I've pushed the envelope of appropriate with the purple shades during the day. Honestly, they're so lovely I challenge anyone to exercise restraint with them.

HRH

Ballmania Lip Balm

So today I had an unexpected treat. I came home from a day out in the park to discover that my husband had spontaneously purchased me a present. Like he wasn't already amazing enough! He told me to close my eyes and put out my right hand and placed a ball covered in daisies in my hand. I thought it was like some kind of Russian Babuska doll and I had no idea what it was until I opened it.

Inside there was a tremendously yummy tasting lip balm (blam). The flavour/pattern he got me is called Daisy May. What's great about this balm is that it's not only moisturizing but it has SPF in it too. But really, the best part of it is the packaging. The balls come in all kinds of artsy patterns. For the sporty types, the spheres come in all kinds of sport balls as well.

And, like any good lip product, in a dire situation, Ballmania can be used as a weapon. The size and weight of the ball make it perfect for whipping at the head of any assailant or irritating person that you may encounter in your journeys. Since my Ballmania is a gift from my man and I will not willingly part with it, I'll have to resort to hand to hand combat should a situation arise.

HRH

NARS Monoi Body Glow and Body Glow II Set

Somethings are worth using on the basis of their smell alone. I like to think of Tahiti as a place that smells like every good smelling thing in the world, mixed together in the perfect ratios.

Monoi de Tahiti is a sacred oil that is traditionally a mixture of coconut and the Tiare flower (aka gardenia). It's such a glorious combination that it makes me want to hop on the next plane to French Polynesia and just bury myself in flowers. Scent is very powerful for me and honestly, just taking a sniff of the oil is like eating a boatload of Kraft caramels without any indigestion or weight gain.

The oil is intensely moisturizing and Tahitians use it for skin and hair. The NARS versions of the oil not only smell glorious but have distinct personalities. The original Body Glow is mixed with a rich chocolate shimmer, which gives pasty, white skin like mine a soft, beautiful shimmer. Just what I need coming out of the long, dark winter.

Body Glow II is a purer strain of the Monoi de Tahiti and can be used as a daily moisturizing product, as it provides sheen, not shimmer. This oil is developed through a more complex process than it's shimmery powder. According to NARS:

Monoï de Tahiti oil is the result of macerating the Tiare flower (Tahitian gardenia) in refined coconut extract for at least ten days, slowly infusing the oil with nutrients as well as a delicate, natural fragrance.

On top of this process, each bottle of Glow II has at least one Tiare flower in the actual bottle to intensify the fragrance.

I adore this stuff and I wish I led a life that called for me to wear bronzer and strong, yet amazing Tahitian scents each day. At the very least I can come home, smell it and be off on a mini vacation to the South Pacific. It's not just body oil, it's a vacation.

HRH

MAC 187 Duo Fibre Brush

Brushes generate some conflict in me. The pragmatist in me says "A brush is a brush. It gets the makeup on your face one way or another," and then the artist in me says "Just try it, feel the difference in applying make up with one brush. Feel it on your skin." And suddenly I'm throwing down $50 for a brush.

I don't always wear foundation. Even though I have foundation that I love, I'm trying to let my skin show through before I get old and splotchy. But there are times when I need to look polished or when hormones wreak havoc that I need to pull out the big guns.

Back in the day, latex sponges were all the rage and then the revelation came that a foundation brush would not only give you better coverage and more control, it would also cause you to use less product as the sponge tends to do what sponges do, absorb.

The MAC 190 Foundation brush has been good to me for awhile now. Upon reading a rave review of the 187 Duo Fibre Brush that made claims of pleasant application and gorgeous results I decided to give it a try.



The brush is a blend of goat and synthetic fibres. I've used it for applying foundation and pigments like blush and have been really impressed by it. It's so soft going on and it blends beautifully. It makes the 190 feel like I'm throwing paint on a wall with roller. So much so that my inner pragmatist has been fully silenced.

The only, only problem I have with it is that a lot of bristles fall out. Not a tonne, but enough to annoy me. Hopefully with more use it will happen less. It a drag to have this soft and even complexion with little black tufts stuck on the surface. I expect it will improve as I clean it more.

HRH

CHI Ceramic Flat Iron

I know. It's silly. The girl with the straightest hair ever has purchased a flat iron. For many years I wondered what possible advantages an iron like this would have for me. It's not like there was some errant curl that needed taming. Then a few years back my stylist started straightening my hair before my hair cuts, which I generally attributed to getting the most precise cut she could.

It was a styling too, but an expensive one, so I got a cheapo Con-Air one, and, as you'd expect with cheapo products, nary an improvement was seen.

Then, one day when Amanda and I were at the mall, discussing how she needed a flat iron (as she has the naturally wavy hair I covet so) we stumbled upon CHI ceramic flat irons seriously on sale. Seriously. It would have been irresponsible not to get one they we so much on sale.

And so I did and I learned that even for the straight haired girl there are a lot of merits to the flat iron. Kinky ends to your hair from sleeping on it funny? The iron fixes that. Blow your blow out? The iron fixes that. Need to look serious and sleek? The iron does that. Need to flip out your ends? The iron does that too. Curl? Why not.

It's a great tool and while I try not to use it too often (once a week at most) it doesn't damage my hair thanks to the ceramic plates and coils that help keep the moisture in my hair. Also the cord is nice and long so I can get at my hair from all kinds of angles. Even better, it heats up in a flash, which has saved my bacon many a morning.

Today's lesson? Don't cheap out and don't underestimate what this tool can do for you.

HRH

Wigo Tourmaline Tools 1875 Watt Professional Ionic Hair dryer

There are some beauty tools that you form a deep and lasting bond with. A brush, a clip, whatever it may be, you know that on the worst of days, when you're hungover, overtired, bloated and bleary, it will always be there for you, giving it's %120 to make you look like a beauty queen.

My go-to tool was my Braun hair dryer. It was nothing fancy, 1600 watts, light, well made, well balanced and it always treated my hair right without hurting my arms. Anyone who has to blow our long hair on a regular basis understands how much a heavy hair dryer can hurt. My Braun and I were BFFs for well over 13 years. It saw me through many relationships, hair cuts (good and bad) and important nights.

So you can imagine my deep and profound sadness when it started to die. It was having trouble transitioning from hot to cool and often if it was on hot for too long it would just stop. Something kept overheating and tripping the safety fuse, a sure sign that the end was nigh. And to be fair, I knew I was on borrowed time with it anyway.

So with a heavy heart I made my way to the beauty supply store to have at it with a wall of hair dryers. I took Amanda with me because I have good beauty tool karma when she's with me (everything seems to be on sale when we're shopping together at lunch - so dangerous). I knew that I wanted the dryer to be ionic and made from tourmaline. A ceramic tourmaline dryer apparently helps dry hair quickly without drying it out. I've read that it does this because Tourmaline (a semi-precious mineral)emits negative ions and infrared heat. The negative ions close the cuticle layer of the hair making it glossy. The infrared heat makes your hair dry faster by "drying from within." Sounds a tad hokey I know, but it means that conventional heat is not frying the outside of your hair, but instead the infrared heat is drying it from the inside out, meaning less damage.

So fast drying, hair protecting, shiny goodness. Oh and it also had to fit in my hair dryer drawer. Being on sale, that'd be nice too.

So after playing around with the dryers on the wall and getting some guidance from the staff I was shown the Wigo Tourmaline Tools 1875 Watt Professional Ionic Hair dryer. It was super light, lots of power, fit the drawer criteria, came with some neat extras like a diffuser (you know, so I can make my hair curl (HA!)) and it was (because of the Amanda factor) $70 off!

I've been using it for some time now and it's been a worth replacement to the Braun. Our time had been good together, but now that it's done, I have a new BFF who's there for the good times and the bad hair days. My hair drys exceptionally fast, the shine factor is apparent and my arms are still protected from blowout burnout. RIP Braun, you will live on through my Wigo.

HRH

Rejoice! Goth eyes are fashionable again!

So I'm looking through the Sephora runway report for fall beauty trends and I'm seeing much of what I expected. Straight hair, red lips, old Hollywood glamour and I saw a trend that made my heart go pitter patter. Goth eyes. I'm so happy I could purr.

Smoky, heavily lined eyes are like a warm cozy blanket on a cold day for me. I'm sure everyone has an item of clothing or a cosmetic element that makes you feel awesome. Lots of eyeliner, mascara and brown or purple shadow make me feel powerful (I was going to say invincible, but I concede that I am overselling it). I've been scaling back on it all as I've gotten older, acknowledging that if I did it as a teen, then odds are I shouldn't be doing it as an adult and it's not in style.

But I've gotten old enough that the trends have come back in. So this fall, as the temperatures cool, you can expect me to put on my warm blanket of dark eyes. Best to invest in some really good eye makeup remover, no?

HRH

Lip Fusion: Colour Shine in Smooch

There are very few things in the world of beauty that are actually worth their objective value. It's a reality I try my best to ignore but looking at the pretty packaging and getting intoxicated by pretty scents. The bottom line is that things cost what they do because silly people like me are willing to spend fifty dollars on a lip gloss.

I pray that my husband doesn't read this one. Yes, fifty dollars on a lip gloss. Now I was having a very bad day when I bought it and it does look AMAZING on. The lip plumping factor isn't extreme, but the intensity of pigment is just perfect. Not too much, but totally pretty. A muted red, with just the right amount of pink undertone.

The price tag is high, but I think I've used this lip gloss about 5 times a week since I got it back in June. Not all of my beauty products get that much attention. Thankfully this has turned into one of those occasions where I splurged on something extensive and it actually ended up being of serious value to me. Objective, no, but definitely of value.

HRH

Benefit: BadGal Blue

Bear with me here for a moment. I'm about to talk about how awesome blue mascara is.

No I have not been possessed by the 80s fashion daemon. I mean, I've learned that coloured eyeliner and mascara don't actually make your eyes that colour. Like last week... (I kid, I was nine).

Here's the thing about blue mascara, or Benefit's Badgal Blue mascara, it makes the whites of your eyes brighter, makes you look away and a smidgen sexier. A smidgen.

Badgal Blue is a deep-blue-violet colour so those with darker natural lashes can actually wear it on it's own and not look like they jumped out of a Scandal video.

And those with lighter lashes and use a black or brown and add a little on the ends. It can be a helpful trick to use the day after some exuberant revelry too.

HRH

Heaven, send me a stylist

There comes a time when a girl has to ask herself serious, life-affecting questions. Probing questions that reach down to the core of my being and expose the deepest, darkest, queries of my soul. Indeed, the time as come where I have to ask myself if it's time to cut my hair.

Inspired by watching "The Search for the Next Doll" and spending a lot of time in dance class tossing my hair about, I was going to try to keep my hair really long. Sure it annoys the heck out of me, especially when I wake up in the middle of the night almost choking from having it twisted around my neck, but there's also something delightfully girly and empowering about having it long and wild. I don't think a mighty gust of wind would be nearly as fun without it. Also, I was hoping to have it really long for Tash & Chris' wedding in September as a kind of insurance in case my back exercises don't pay off like I'm hoping they will.

Thing is, it's April, five months away from their wedding. A no doubt oppressively hot summer is knocking down the door and keeping it from looking like a flat, mangy mess is becoming increasingly labour intensive. It's like I passed the threshold where I got get great hair with modest effort and now it's all work with minimal reward. Unless someone has decided to add an extra hour into the day what I can fill with blow-outs and rollers, there's no way I have the time to put in the work required. It's just too long, too heavy and volume-less.

As much as I'm grousing, I know as soon as I cut it off I'm going to regret it, so I'm not sure what to do. The scary thing for me is that I'm not hugely motivated to do anything about it. I stood in front of the mirror today and thought about ways I could hide my hair in a bun for weeks on end. It's like there are more important things in my life than my hair.

Seriously, what's happening to me if I don't have my vanity.

Today's sing-a-long song: "Makes Me Wonder" by Maroon 5

HRH

Beauty lives on

I've just completed an epic update of The Royal Beauty. It dawned on me last week that I had all these great products that I had told no one about. Bad Chelsea. Now that I have more free time I'll be better about keeping this site current. There is no end in sight to product goodness.

HRH

Clarins Gentle Eye Makeup Remover Lotion

Like I've said before, the more you know about a company's given strengths the better. A company that excels in eye creams and treatments, is going to be pretty good with eye makeup removers. Prime example is Clarins. They've been longtime experts in eye treatments, so when Dawn asked me if I could recommend a gentle eye makeup remover, Clarins was a natural choice.

Thankfully our makeup mule picked up a bottle of it for me as well as I was dangerously low. As predicted, it does a great job. It did an amazing job of removing the evidence of a heavy eyeliner day, something that is always a problem for me and my affinity for the black stuff, with a minimum of sting. I find it a tad oily (as it is oil based) so I can only use it on my eyes. If you think about it you use a different cream on your eyes than you do on the rest of your face. It seems that the same holds true for makeup remover.

HRH

Pout Plump in Mulberry

Plumping lip gloss. I am tres skeptical. Always have been. Mostly because I've never encountered much evidence beyond the tingling of my lips after application. So while I'm not a believer in it, I still use it. Why? Because most lipglosses out there are trying to be plumping and there are a lot of pretty colours available.

My most recent acquisition is the Pout Plump in mulberry. My first foray into the red tones. The colour is lovely and while I doubt that the plumping spices are actually making my lips bigger, the tingling sensation is handy because it let's me know when the lip gloss has worn off my lips.

Bottom line. Lovely colour, nice gloss, don't expect huge Angelina Jolie style lips from it.

HRH

Pout Cheek to Cheek in coral nymph/bronze siren

I went in for lipgloss and I came out with a bronzer/blush. I can be such a sucker sometimes, but it is my weakness. Shhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=3581016
Blogger: The Royal Word - Create Postow me how to look healthy and full of life without having to endure the annoyance that is the sun and I'm sold. Put it in cream format so it's easy to work with and easy to correct mistakes and I'm bringing it home with me.

And that's how I brought home Pout's Cheek to Cheek. I love it so much that I didn't use another blush product for a week after purchasing it. It works best when you use a foundation brush to apply it, mixing the bronzer and the coral blush together. The result is a beautiful glow. Just the kind of glow you want to greet the return of the sun this spring.

HRH

Prescriptives Flawless Skin Powder

Every cosmetic company has an area of strength. Something that really sets them apart from the rest of the pack. Professional grade makeup that lasts through anything, you want MAC. Pretty pigments for each season, head to Stila. The sauciest of lips, you're looking for Pout. Makeup with whimsy and attitude, welcome to Benefit. When you're interested in foundation, you go to Prescriptives.

Elaborating on my foundation experience from yesterday, I also got my hands on some of their flawless skin powder. It's fantastic on foundation, setting it for the whole day and also amazing on bare skin, evening out redness and eliminating shine.

Toss in the very chic compact and you have a perfect addition to your makeup kit.

HRH

Prescriptives CustomBlend Foundation

Oh the wonders of the custom world. If you have the money, you can have just about anything tailored to fit the individual wonder that is you. Sometimes, customization is an exercise in frivolity, but other times it just makes sense. One of those instances is with foundation.

The face is a very complicated place. Skin tones can be different, sometimes there's oil, sometimes it's dry, texture and shadowing can vary and that's just on one person. Multiply that by billions and you have the primary reason why, unless you're that lucky one in a million, generic foundation will always look a bit wrong.

For years makeup artists would blend different colours and tones of foundation to make it look like natural skin. Then Prescrptives came along and offered CustomBlend Foundation. It takes about 30 minutes to make. They take into account the type of skin you have, the type of finish you want and the palette of colours involved in making the shade that is truly yours.

For example, my foundation is a colour mixture of yellow, orange and white. It's a perfect match. No more of the line between chin and neck. It has a mattifying agent, but also contains moisturizers. It finishes to a slightly shimmery, dewy texture and provides medium coverage, meaning redness from acne or dark spots are concealed, but my freckles still come through. Yay for deception!

It costs around $80, but it is well worth it. You even get a travel size container with it. Check it out if you're noticing that your skin just looks surreal in natural light.

HRH

Pureology Power Dressing

While I love having long hair and I've come to embrace it's very straight texture, I still long for volume. You would think that it would have occurred to me that using a volumizer would be an effective solution for that.

Well it didn't until a good friend gave M and I a truckload of Pureology products to try out. One night I decided to give the power dressing aside as it said it gave life to layers. I put a bunch of it in my wet hair and decided to go for it. It was a lot more work that just drying it normally, but the result was fantastic, proving to me that sometimes your hair has to go to scary places to end up in a happy state. My hair was still smooth and straight, but it had volume. It moved and bounced and I didn't have to spend 12 hours trying to inspire the same results with rollers.

I now used a bit of it each day, mixed in with my straightening serum. Who knew that long hair could actually have life.

HRH

Pureology SuperStraight Smoothing System

Let's talk about hair damage. Specifically about avoiding it. Let's talk about sulphates and how eliminating them can be a really good thing. Let's also talk about moisture and how your hair needs it. Badly.

I don't have coloured hair. I'm saving that for the day when I actually have to do it all the time. This revelation didn't stop a friend of mine from telling me that I just simply had to start using this line of hair products. Her rationale being that if it's good to colour-treated hair, it's just as good for normal hair. She directed me to the Pureology SuperStraight Smoothing System which consists of shampoo, conditioner and a relaxing serum. Why would someone with straight hair use a smoothing system? Mostly because the smoothing agents eliminate flyaways and protect my hair during drying.

Pureology shampoo is sulphate-free, which is kind of meaningless to the average person until you look into what they do. Sulphates are foaming agents which are also found in cleaning products and detergents. Great when you're washing your floor, but less great when you're washing your hair. Sulphates are known to strip the hair and skin of amino acids and keratin that help keep the hair from becoming brittle and help make hair shiny. Also, sulphates remain on hair and skin long after they are rinsed away. This residue can also make it harder to dry your hair, meaning blow-drying takes longer.

Here's where things can get tricky. Shifting over to a sulphate-free shampoo can actually make your hair feel dry for the first few weeks as you're getting rid of build up. That's part of where Pureology is great because it's full of moisturizing agents that keep hair feeling great.

I've been really happy with this product. I've been using it for well over a month now with nothing but good hair days. The damage it has prevented has meant that I can allow my hair to grow longer between cuts.

HRH

essie Nail Polish in Ballet Slippers

People notice your hands. Like it or not (and believe me I wish that they didn't) your hands can say a lot about you. They can tell people what kind of work you do, how much effort your put into your appearance and even expose if you are truly as detail oriented as you claim to be. Consistent manicures are in my future the next time I jump up a pay bracket.

Until then, when I know I need to look put together, I use Ballet Slippers by essie for my polish. It's a very light and subtle pink that blends in well with my skin tone. It doesn't draw the eye to my hands, but if someone looks, they'll see that I'm taking care of things.

HRH

Johnson's Baby Oil Gel

I'm not entirely sure if I have mentioned this wonderful product before. If I have not, then I am a fool, for it is wonderful. I used to only use baby oil gel in the summer when I wanted to add a little bit of shine to my pasty, white legs come skirt time.

This past winter something compelled me to use it after a shower instead of my usual moisturizer. Like most Canadians winter for me is an exercise in moisture maintenance. An application in the morning, continual application through out the day on the hands and application before bed, just to prevent your skin from cracking.

When I used the baby oil gel mid winter I found that at the end of the day, my skin wasn't even close to dry and didn't need the nighttime application of cream. The stuff was amazing. It was really cheap and I needed to use less of it to stave off dry skin. I just can't stop winning really.

HRH

Shu Uemera Mascara Basic

Because it's Shu Uemera, the Japanese brand of makeup I find so mysterious and interesting (mostly because it's not widely available in Canada and because Kevyn Aucoin swore by their brushes), I was expecting great things from this mascara. Would it be the product to sway me from my devotee status with Lancome's Hypnose?

No. It's good. It's fine. But it's not Hypnose. As you might expect, the applicator brush is quite nice. That's about it.

HRH

Chanel: Age Delay Eye

I saw a photo taken of me at Christmas time that seriously made me cringe. I looked mostly okay, save one terrible development. I could see the beginning of Crow's feet.

Nothing reveals your age like your eyes. I've crossed over into the part of life where my metabolism is slowing and my body just isn't producing elastin like it once did. So it has come time for me to be more aggressive in my management of aging.

Enter Chanel's Age Delay Eye Gel. It's a cool pink gel I put on under and around my eyes morning and night. It's big feature is the silicone in it that is really effective in smoothing out the skin and subsequent lines. It's also handy in terms of makeup application as it really flattens the surface so that makeup will sit better.

There's nothing I can do, short of surgery to get rid of the lines I already have, and I'm not about to stop smiling, but at least with the help of a gel like this I can stave off the development of more lines in the future.

Adventures in Eyeliner

I've decided that if I ever write some kind of autobiography or memoir Adventures in Eyeliner is going to have to be the title. Really that seems to be what every day is for me. And as evidenced below, life (or at least my face) is always better with it.
without

with


HRH

For beautification purposes only

For those who are so inclined, there are a heap of new blurbs up on my beauty blog, The Royal Beauty. I promise never to lose my makeup focus like I did again!

Today's sing-a-long song: "Magic's in the makeup" by No Doubt.

HRH

Jonothan Product

Walking through Sephora today I was targeted. The sales lady from Jonothan saw me and I saw her and we both knew that there was nothing to be done about it. She was going to show me some hair products and I was going to be impressed. Mightily impressed.

Really any conversation that begins with "Would you like me to add some body to your hair?" is going to be a good one. True I do have good hair. I'm good to it and I have some genetics working in my favour. I have healthy looking hair. Give me a blow out, it's hair commercial time. All that in my favour I do have one thing working against me. Getting body in my hair is like getting blood from a stone. My hair is layered to encourage lightness, I use very light conditioners... still, I had to recurl my hair three times on my wedding day and that was after three hours of salon prep and curling, and leaving my curls pinned in my hair for another four hours. Body just isn't easy.

And I don't want to suggest that Dirt Texturizing Paste by Jonothan Antin is a miracle cure. It isn't, but may be a small sign from a higher power that the tools out there exist to give me more body than I've got.

It's always nice when the product-specific people are in the stores to show you how to use things. I spent a good ten minutes with this woman and learned a good days worth. I learned about Redo, the refreshing product that may enable me to further extend the period between hair washing. It may sound ick, but the less you wash your hair the better. Shampoo can be very drying on your ends. If you have long hair like I do, always try to concentrate the shampoo on your scalp. If you also have oily skin/scalp like I do, keep conditioners to the ends.

Because I have an oily scalp, but I have long ends that I don't want to dry out, a product like Redo is awesome. Spray it all over your scalp when it has become unruly and oily and get another day out of your hair.

The last product that I learned about to day is the Leave-In Gloss Cream. After I'd been given a generous sample of the Dirt and picked up a bottle of Redo to take with me on vacation, the Jonothan product woman sought me out in the store to give me yet another sample. She told me to just put it on my ends after I've washed and dried my hair. Futhering the thinking that not all sections of your hair are the same and different parts need different care.

So far I am quite impressed with this line of products and am quite keen to try more.

HRH

Bobbi Brown: Gold Shimmer Brick Compact

Gold is all the rage these days. Blame Mike Meyers I suppose. The thing is, the warmth that gold gives you is unparalelled. This brick compact is a great way to give your face that something extra as the golden warmth of the sun retreats from our lives once again.

Using all the colours in the brick, you dust the powder on your face, concentrating on the places where the sun would hit you the most. This is something to always keep in mind when using bronzers or illuminators. Put it where it the light is going to go, otherwise it will look totally unnatural.

If you want to use it on your eyes, then you can apply the five colours individually. I'm not sure when you'll have occasion to go for a gold eye, but if you need to look like a 24 carat woman, this is the tool that you need.

Soon you'll be overheard saying "I love gooooold"

HRH

Stila: Shadow Pot in Petal

Yes, I bought yet another purple eye shadow. I cannot be stopped.

HRH

Sakura

Before I even noticed another week and weekend have rushed by. I guess it's been busy, but I've been so caught up in enjoying spring that I hadn't noticed.

Today I was finally able to see the cheery blossoms in High Park in bloom. I've been wanting to do this since I moved to Toronto. I've been slightly obsessed with cherry blossoms ever since I saw The Makioka Sisters in film school. One day I will walk through an orchard of cherry blossoms in Kyoto as they lose their petals.

I've been having trouble finding a sunscreen that doesn't do bad things to my skin, so I've taken to walking with a parasol to give me a modicum of sun protection. It's not ideal, but it works. A lot of the Japanese people in the park today gave me wry smiles when they saw it, but mostly I think people thought it was cute. I'm not burned so at least it was effective.

Today's sing-a-long song: "The Grace" by Neverending White Lights

HRH

Recent Obsessions and Fixations

I have a couple of obsessions going on, most of them healthy. The biggest of which is watching 24 on Monday nights. It's gotten so bad that I have found myself avoid social plans on Monday nights. I won't answer the phone when the show is on. It's all a little crazy, but Jack is just so awesome it's worth a little crazy.

Another thing I'm crazy about these days is ebay. I guess everyone goes through their ebay phase, but I'm still waiting for this one to end. It started last October when I was trying to get an antique pen for M for Christmas. In the process of hunting down a version of this pen I found that you could get brand new, discontinued, limited edition makeup palettes for less than you would have paid retail, if you still could. I've only purchase about three palettes through ebay so far (my auction winning skills took a little time to hone), but the whole experience of looking is getting close to as much fun as the Sephora Web site.

And aside from my usual obsessions (cleaning, being surrounded by good smells and the music of Muse) I'm entering a new obsessive phase with my highly problematic skin. Hopefully this phase will be less of me trying to tear it off my face in frustration and more like my successful dieting endeavours.

Dermatology has failed me again. In an effort to avoid going on accutane again, I was using a very simple regimen of a high-grade prescription vitamin A cream and a very mild cleanser. Sure it was easy, but the results were so much less than I find acceptable and I'm tired of wearing makeup to conceal. I want to wear it to embellish.

So I'm trying the commercial route, which is a lot more complex and currently burns with the fire of a couple of hot suns. It should be a breakout-tacular few weeks ahead. If it works, I'll write about it on The Royal Beauty. If it's doesn't work, I may just have to start wearing a burka.

Today's sing-a-long song: "Glass Ceiling" by Metric

HRH

Random things

As a child I used to dance around my parents living room to George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, all 14 minutes of it. There was an elaborate routine that I can still see in my head every time I hear the song. Classic Gershiwn was one of the first CDs we bought (after Beatles for Sale). I really am fortunate for having a family that would not only let me move furniture dance and around the house, but would also be kind enough to not insist upon watching.

Did you know that the last time I bought stationary for myself was nine years ago when I was in studying art history in Italy? It was the marble textured type of paper that they make in Venice and Florence. It was blue, green and lovely. But I haven't had to buy any since because wonderful people keep buying me stationary. And not just plain old stationary, but stationary that is completely perfect for me. Cards with stylized little fashionistas, art as make-up, cats, flowers... all lovely. I largely have Kari and Wendy to thank for this. I also have to thank them for keeping me well stocked in good reading.

A woman at the gym asked me what kind of face wash I was using and it resulted in me giving her a 10 minute skin care/cosmetics consult. A middle aged asian woman I'd never met before. Things like this happen to me a lot and I have no idea why. I suppose it appeals to my ego, that people think that I look like I know what I'm doing. I guess looking like you know what you're doing is sometimes 60 per cent of actually doing it.

Today's sing-a-long song: "Let Go" by Frou Frou

HRH