New Skin Resolutions
Tarte's 'We Wish You Health' Skinvigorating™
Gift Set, $30,
available at TarteCosmetics.com,
makes it a cinch to honor your skin care promises—and
keep them— well into '08.
Last week, the
Times health blog referenced
a poll that said one-third of people who make
New Year's resolutions aren't truly committed to
their goals, and will most likely break them
before February. The obvious answer to why this
is: we set our standards unrealistically high,
make our proclamations too broad and subsequently
let ourselves down and get discouraged when we
don't see results. Bettering yourself shouldn't be
this stressful... should it?
I never like to make New Years resolutions, and if I
do, I never make them out loud. (Who needs
your lunch buddy calling you out when you order a
cream-based soup instead of vegetable? No thanks.)
This year—since it's YBLAG's first New Year's
celebration— I've decided to make a resolution to be
extra good to my skin. Read: Wash, tone, treat
every morning, every night, and
totally eliminate all sun worshipping. Gulp. Ouch.
Omg.
I know it sounds easy enough, but I've been known to
fall asleep with a full face of makeup (lazy!) and
bask in the sun with minimal SPF in the summertime
(dummy!).
As you can imagine, I was psyched to discover the
above gift set from Tarte while I was looking through
my Christmas goodies. It has four of the brands star
makeup products—each with an awesome skin care
benefit. My absolute favorite part is the Clean Slate
Primer, which hydrates my mug with avocado oil while
keeping it calm and healthy with echinacea, rosemary
and hibiscus oils. I'm obsessed.
The gift set is a perfect companion to my stellar skin products, and it's
making my New Years resolution totally easy to
stick to. I'll let you know how it goes.
(...As if I'd tell you if I break it
before February.)
Emmy Makeup Look Cheat Sheet
Above: Celebrity
Makeup Artist and Emmy Makeup Guru, Bruce Grayson
Emmy recaps have been
everywhere this week, and I love reading them, but
sometimes I wish these people would give it to me
straight:
Dear (so-and-so-weekly/website/mag),
I agree that (fill-in-the-blank-actress)'s 'bold lip look' from Sunday Night's Emmys was gorgeous. I appreciate how the sunset inspired her makeup artist when they chose the color. Way to go on the behind-the-scenes-investigation. Writing now to ask for one tiny detail: what's the name of the lipstick she wore, or one close to it? That's really all I need to know.
Love, YBLAG
Luckily, I didn't have to wait for them to write me back. Instead, I pulled some strings and found out for myself. This report comes straight from the horse's mouth, via Primetime Emmys Make-up Department Head and Olay spokesperson Bruce Grayson. What's a makeup department head, you ask? Basically, not one actress was allowed down the red carpet or on stage until Bruce gave his stamp of approval. Here are some Cliffsnotes for Emmy-ready lips, eyes and cheeks.more...
Spot Check: What's in My Makeup Bag?
When I do wear makeup, I've been known play "Make Believe: The Makeup Artist Edition." I love experimenting with colors and techniques and new products. Here's a shot of what my "primary" makeup bag looks like at the moment:
Fascinating, huh? FYI,
the whole
overflowing-with-makeup-and-won't-zipper-look isn't
for dramatic effect, I've been too lazy to either
switch to a bigger case or transfer some products
into my "secondary" stash.
Click below for a list of what's inside and
why.
She's theBalm
Above:
Marissa Shipman,
Founder & CEO of theBalm
Wanna hear one of my
all-time favorite stories? Cool, here goes:
Once upon a time, in the very late 90's, a beautiful
twentysomething girl from Connecticut was going
through a typical quarter-life crisis. She had just
graduated college with a degree in theatre, wasn't
sure what she wanted career-wise and landed a few
great jobs that didn't really suit her. Then, a bad
breakup with a bf was added into the mix. OY. So she
did what any normal girl would do in her sitch—she
packed up her shiz and moved to Cali.
Wait, it gets better...