Star Products of September 2011

From Pammy Blogs Beauty

Hey Dolls!

Can you believe it is October (my fav month!) already!?!? Time is just flying by! My life has been so super busy as I am preparing for my first baby, working full time as a speech-language pathologist, and just enjoying life along the way. With my busy schedule, I have really paired down my beauty routine. My current goal is to streamline my routine and get ready quickly.

So, its time for my monthly Star Products post! I realize that I didn't do a favorites post last month. It just seemed like I had a lot of duplicate favorites. This month I got lucky, a lot of products that I tested for review were just fabulous and have turned into daily staples for me!

If you want to find out what made this month's Star Products list, please keep reading!

I have been very into skincare lately (lol, but aren't I always?). My skin is in such fluctuation with pregnancy. I am so glad that I have found some great products that work well with my temperamental skin. 

So, what made the list??? These are the products that I have been reaching for continuously over the past month...

September Star Products:

• Belli Acne Cleansing Facial Wash: This cleanser contains lactic acid (a pregnancy-safe hydroxy acid) and has kept my temperamental preggie skin clean and fresh. Be sure to check out my recent Belli Skincare review!  

• Belli Elasticity Belly Oil: This product is just such a treat to use. I apply it every night to my expanding belly to keep it soft and moisturized. The lavender scent is so soothing at bedtime. 

• CVS brand Cocoa Butter Gel Body Oil: This is CVS's generic version of Vaseline's Cocoa Butter Gel Body Oil. Funny, I have never had Oils on my Star Products lists. But, I have 2 oils that I love this month! I had intended to buy Vaseline's version...but, I stumbled upon the CVS generic version while it was BOGO. I use this after my shower in the mornings on my very dry body parts. I also like how this looks on my arms. It gives a nice soft "glowy" look without making you look greasy. The gel texture is really cool! I have never tried a gel oil before this and I think I am hooked! Works great on dry cuticles too!   

• Your Best Face (YBF) Defend Wrinkle Protection: Another great product from one of my fav skincare brands! I realized as I was completely using this product up this week that I must review this soon. This amazing antioxidant-based lotion hydrates and tones your skin while also keeping it clear. I totally love this product!  Check out a previous YBF review of mine here: YBF Boost.

• Dior Addict Lip Glow: I love using this all-in-one lip product. I just swipe and go...super easy look for my lips! It gives moisture, shine, SPF, and a slight tint to your lips. It lives in my purse and I reach for this often. Be sure to click on the link to read my recent review!  

• Hard Candy World Balmination in Good Girl: Another great lip product! This new lipbalm from Hard Candy's Fall 2011 lineup gives a great sheer color and smells like vanilla lemon (yummy!!!). The soft peachy color goes very well with my fair skin. My lips feel very smooth when I use this. No need for an additional lip moisturizer!   

• Napoleon Perdis Blush Patrol: The more I use this blush, the more I like it! It is just so unique. It is HIGHLY pigmented...actually, the most pigmented blush that I own. Once I got the hang of application, it gives the most beautiful rosey-bronze blush look! Really brings out my cheekbones and gives me great color. It has become one of my fav blushes for sure! I like using a huge blush brush to apply it so the color dosn't go on too heavy. 

MAC Products that are Must-Haves

MAC Must-Haves

• 217 Blending Brush ($22.50)

  I wield this multi-tasking goat hair fiber brush Every. Single. Day. It has its way with both cream and powder products, and I use it for everything from loose pigments to under-eye concealer.
  
  
• 

  Fluidline in Blacktrack ($15)

  This black gel liner stays put no matter what! I’ve shed a million tears with this stuff on, and it doesn’t budge for nothin’.
  
  

• Pro Longwear Concealer ($16.50)

  I really fancy this miracle working liquid concealer. Not only does it cover my dark circles well with its water-resistant formula, but it lasts all day long without fading, too. My one caveat? — it has a tricky pump.
  
  
• 

  Soft Brown Eyeshadow ($14.50)

  If you like the look of browns with orange undertones, this matte shadow could be your new best friend. I wear it in the crease with smokey looks to give my eyes depth and dimension.
  
  

• Viva Glam V Lipstick ($14.50)

  LOVE  this shimmery neutral pink! I think it looks great on almost everyone, and 100% of the proceeds go to support men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.
  
  
  
  
  Click here for Source

Best of Beauty: Top Products

The Best of Beauty

Cheeks: allure.com

Blush

Powder.

Swirl on Smashbox Blush Rush for cheeks that are either soft or intense, depending on the application. Our top picks: Bare for fair skin, Paradise for medium, and Gingersnap for dark.

Eyes: allure.com

EYE SHADOW

Beige.

Many so-called beige shadows are too white, too golden, or simply too boring. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow in Beige has a delicate sheen that flouts the blah stereotype.

Lips: allure.com

LIPSTICK

Red.

You may remember Lancôme L'Absolu Rouge Lipcolor in Absolute Rouge as last year's winner. That's because we have yet to find another true red that's as brilliant, as moisturizing, and as universally flattering.

Read more to see other product info from this Best of Beauty article: allure.com

Editor's Choice: Mascara

Revlon CustomEyes Mascara

A quick twist of the cap actually changes the shape of the brush and the look it delivers, so we can have defined lashes for the office or dramatic for a night out.

• $7.49, target.com

Editors' Favorites: allure.com

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Best New Beauty Products of 2010

Allure's Best Makeup and skin care products of 2010

Lancôme Ôscillation PowerFoundation, $48

Some people love mineral foundation (it's natural; it's long-lasting) and some don't (it's heavy, cakey, messy). This version has a battery-powered sponge applicator that solves the problems by producing a smooth, uniform finish. You just dip the sponge into the mineral powder and press the handle's "on" button, and the tip vibrates 7,000 times per minute—massaging the powder into skin evenly. "This oscillating applicator breaks down the fine particles in the makeup, eliminating the need to blend," says Ni'Kita Wilson, a cosmetic chemist. "It also massages them into skin and fills fine lines." nordstrom.com.

Aveeno Ageless Vitality Elasticity Recharging System,Neutrogena Clinical, and RoC Brilliance Lines, $35.99-$49.99

These product lines have technology that helps skin cells stay young. Skin cells communicate using various processes, including one called bioelectricity, in which small electrical pulses tell the cells when to repair themselves, store energy, and make internal changes necessary to stay healthy. The currents can slow down as we age, and this can make it harder for skin to recover from sun damage and environmental stress. The scientists behind these products found that copper-plated zinc helps boost the skin's bioelectricity.

They developed a serum with the ingredient and a moisturizing "conductor" that activates the process—and found that this combination stimulated collagen and elastin production, helped reduce inflammation, and may fight hyperpigmentation. In clinical studies of the products containing the new technology, which include Aveeno Ageless Vitality Elasticity Recharging System for Day, Neutrogena Clinical Facial Lifting Wrinkle Treatment Night, and RoC Brilliance Eye Beautifier, subjects' wrinkles were reduced after four weeks. Ranella Hirsch, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine, says, "Harnessing a natural communication system in the skin is a powerful new way to fight wrinkles." target.com,walgreens.com.

The Best New Beauty Products of 2010: emAllure/em Picks the Winners: allure.com

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The Best New Beauty Products of 2010

The Best New Beauty Products of 2010: emAllure/em Picks the Winners: allure.com

The most innovative products of the year offer brand-new ways to get smoother skin, fuller hair, and a better complexion.

Reported by Brooke Le Poer Trench

Living Proof Full Thickening Mousse, $19.50

There's a whole new approach to adding oomph to your hair. Most volumizing products try to hold hair off the scalp with a gluelike ingredient...that falls apart in wind or when you so much as touch it with a brush. This mousse instead contains a flexible polymer (the company worked with MIT researchers to create it) that adds volume through the length of the hair and stays effective—through mussing and fussing—until the next time you shampoo. "The polymer is superflexible, so it gives volume without feeling sticky," says Jim Hammer, a cosmetic chemist. qvc.com

Advanced Home Actives Brazilian Peel Professional Strength Facial Treatment, $78

Glycolic acid peels fight wrinkles and leave skin glowing. But the struggle has always been to find an at-home version that's superstrong—but not so intense that you could risk burning your face off. This peel has a neutralizer—inspired by stomach antacids—that can switch off the acid in its 30 percent glycolic peel (this is high enough that, typically, only professionals use it) within ten minutes of it hitting your skin. In other words, there's basically no way it can irritate. (The key is a double-barreled dispenser that keeps the glycolic solution away from the neutralizer until you hit the plunger.) "The strength of the peel brings a high percentage of glycolic acid to the home market safely," says Amy B. Lewis, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine. "That means a better and faster improvement in skin texture and tone than can be achieved using at-home peels that aren't this strong." sephora.com.

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