Here are my suggestions on gifts for the holidays. It’s a mix of several different brands, but all things that I think a lot of people would like, and of course, things I like!   The prices range from $6.65 to $48, and all can be found online for purchase at UrbanDecay.com, Amazon.com, Aromaleigh.com (25% off coupon code FRIDAY25 until Friday Dec. 5th), Sephora.com, Ulta.com, and SallyBSkinYummies.com (10% off until the rest of ‘08 using the “mythsallyb” coupon code).

1.  Urban Decay 24/7 Travel Size Set of Eyeliners – $29
Available in two sets.
VIP
- Zero (zealous black)
- Lucky (brilliant deep copper)
- Covet (peacock green
- Electric (bright aquamarine)
- Lust (plush purple)

Velvet Rope
- Yeyo (metallic white)
- 1999 (plum with micro gold glitter)
- Zero (zealous black) the #1 best-selling black Eye Pencil
- Bourbon (brown with micro gold glitter)
- Stash (dark green/gold)

2.  Urban Decay Sustainable Shadow Box - $36
- YDK (bronzed mocha with golden microglitter)
- Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (golden beige with bronze, gold, & silver glitter)
- Flipside (electric teal with blue sheen)
- Flash (bright iridescent purple)
- Grifter (sheer lavender with lots of silver microglitter)
- Oil Slick (black with silver glitter)
- Uzi (metallic silver with big iridescent sparkles)
- Kiddie Pool (ocean blue with iridescent glitter)
- Twice Baked (brownie brown with gold glitter)
- Half Baked (subtle, lustrous bronze).

3.  Urban Decay Urban Essentials – $39
- .55 oz Overside bottle of Primer Potion
- Goddess Eyeshadow (midnight blue with lots of electric-blue microglitter)
- Midnight Cowboy Eyeshadow (subtle golden-beige with gold glitter).

4.  Urban Decay Best of Urban Set – $32
- Baked Heavy Metal Glitter Liner (bronze)
- Half Baked Eyeshadow (subtle, lustrous bronze)
- Bourbon 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil (brown with teeny gold glitter)
- Eyeshadow Primer Potion (ultra-sheer nude eye base)

5.  Too Faced Mini The Quickie Chronicles – The Life of the Party - $15
- blush in berry mauve shimmer
- black glitter eye shadow
- silver foil eye shadow
- berry sparkle lip gloss
- golden pink lip gloss

6.  Aromaleigh Must Have Holiday 2008 Gift Set – $34.75 (on sale for $26.25)
- butterscotch eye shadow (yellow gold with red iridescence)
- allspide eye shadow (tarnished copper brown with shimmer)
- wintergreen eye shadow (neutral green with smoky undertone and red shimmer)
- mulberry eye shadow (vivid warm holiday purple with rich highlight sparkles)
- amaretto lip creme (mid-toned caramel nude with glints of mauve)

7.  Aromaleigh Create Your Own Custom Gift Set – $37.35 (on sale for $28.00)
- choose a lipstick or lipgloss shade
- choose a blush or rouge shade
- choose 3 eye shadow shades

8.  Aromaleigh Little Gems Gift Set – $28.20 (on sale for $22.56)
Choose from 8 different sets which include 2 eye shadow shades, 1 blush and 1 lip color.

9.  Aromaleigh Make Eye Colors Pop Gift Set – $27.00 (on sale for $24.30)
Choose from Blue, Brown, Green and Hazel eye sets.
Each set includes 3 eye shadows and a liner. (more…)

This week Mythbuster Beauty is giving away six limited edition holiday flavored lip balms from MY LIP STUFF NATURAL LIP BALM -the fabulous lip balms that we have all have gone ga-ga over!  At My Lip Stuff you can choose from over 400 flavors to feed your addiction and soften your lips.  To read our review of My Lip Stuff Lip Balms follow this link to:  My Lip Stuff: You could pay more, but why?

One lucky person will win a set of six limited edition lip balms:

• Santa Baby (Cotton Candy)
• Chocolate Apples
• Gingerbread House
• Candy Cane
• Icicles (Vanilla Icing)
• and Eggnog Cheesecake

Very tasty balms indeed, these six lip balms retail for $11.00.  A pack of limited edition holiday flavors would be wonderful as stocking stuffers, teacher’s or office gifts.  Be sure to check out the silly flavors like reindeer poop and yellow snow!  I know someone in my family who I have to buy a snickerdoodle lip balm for.

Rules:  To enter this giveaway enter your name and email address in the contest machine box below along with your favorite MY LIP STUFF flavor.  One entry per person and the deadline is at 1 am (EST) Sunday, December 7, 2008.  One winner will be chosen and will be announced on Mythbuster Beauty, PRIZEY.Fetch, and contacted via email.  MBB will not share your email address with anyone, and only uses your email address to contact you if you are a winner.  This giveaway is open to residents of the USA and Canada only.

 

How many times do you have to say no to a tempting treat?  Once a week, twice a week, oh come on!  If you are like me it’s a constant saying no-to-treats battle.  I generally need a few treats daily to keep me smiling and content!

The remarkably beauty and eco-savvy Sally B created a line to treat our skin and it doesn’t add any calories, carbs, or guilt.  Just pure skin pleasure.

The Mythbuster Beauty Team got to sample several items from the Sally B Skin Yummies line.  Everything I tried, I loved.  Sally B’s skincare line is packed with high quality, skin nourishing ingredients.  No need to read through a mile-long ingredient list from Sally B. 

Body-Eco Lotion in Lavender ($32):  A fabulous lotion for the body, hands and feet this lotion offers just the right amount of moisture, absorbs well into the skin and has a fabulous sweet lavender scent.  Key Ingredients: Organic Tamanu Oil, Kukui Oil, Organic Green Tea, Organic Shea Butter, Organic Aloe.

Sally B’s Organic Sugar Scrub ($16 – 4oz, $30 - 8oz.):  “Most scrubs on the market are simple concoctions—either oil and sugar or oil and salt, and messy! And they must be stirred.  Salt can also be irritating to the skin and will certainly sting if you have any scratches.  Sally B’s Sugar Scrub is full of Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter and there is no need for stirring!”   So if this doesn’t convince you to try it, check out DecoDiva’s review:  Sally b’s Skin Yummies – Lemon Sage Sugar Scrub.  I’ve also heard that the Chamomile Neroli scrub is amazing.

B Glossy Organic Lip Gloss ($10) – I sampled this gloss in “Every Blond’s Pink,” a protecting lip gloss, with just a hint of pink tint that gives my lips subtle color and shine.  Sally B adds a bit of peppermint, which is perfect not overpowering, and this gloss can be used alone or layered with your favorite lip color.  Mo sampled “Copper Penny,” and DecoDiva loved her gloss in “Ruby’s Red.” (more…)

The cooler weather is upon us and the cooler-drier air creates drier skin. My lips are constantly needing the protection and comfort from a good lip balm. I recently finished up my favorite Caudalie Lip Conditioner and found myself in the market for something new.

The last time I visited Sephora, I picked up the infamous Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment with SPF 15. I had heard so many wonderful things about this balm that I had to try it. So I picked it up for the hefty sum of $22.50 and have enjoyed its soothing, hydrating benefits.

However a few weeks ago, my friend Laurel gave me as a gift (thank you!) a “My Lip Stuff” lip balm in lemon buttercream. After one use I was hooked. Moisturizing, protective, basic lip balm that feels and smells wonderful, pretty much everything you crave from a lip balm. But something also struck me while using this lip balm, its uncanny smell and resemblance in texture and scent to the much more expensive Fresh Sugar product!

Again I have learned a very valuable lesson in beauti-economics, and that is many times the same or similar formulas are found in products that cost much less. In this case, Fresh’s container is a bit more substantial and the lid screws on so that there would be no accidental lid-loss, but for the savings you could buy several My Lip Stuff Balms (like 12). My Lip Stuff has a huge variety of lip balms with 400 different flavors to choose from like Crème Brulee, French Toast, Peanut Butter & Jelly (PB&J), and even Dog Poop Lip Balm (a yummy blend of Caramel & Coffee). You can also order their, “Pick Your Own Six Pack of Lip Balm” for $11! Now that’s a sweet deal.

When some of my local friends got wind that I was a beauty blogger, they were full of suggestions for their favorite beauty products.  One of them even sent me an amazing assortment of locally owned skincare products from a company called, “In Your Bonnet.“  Thanks Ruth!

“In Your Bonnet” carries handmade and finely crafted skin balms, creams, and bath products.   Their skincare products are made with beeswax, plant oils and botanicals to create a simple and yet very effective line. 

“In Your Bonnet is a family business located in a high desert valley of Utah, the beehive state. Our weather is one of extremes, from near zero cold winters with lots of the “greatest snow on earth” to hot, dry summers with temperatures over 100 degrees and humidity less than 20%.

In Your Bonnet started as a means to an end… we wanted high quality, natural products for our dry, sensitive skin. Honey has long been used for its medicinal properties and as hobby beekeepers, we knew the addition of honey and beeswax would benefit any products we produced. When demand exceeds our own supply we use honey and beeswax from local Utah hives rather than imported honey in our soap, lotions, and balms.”

My favorite product has to be In Your Bonnet’s “Heel Thyself.”   This heel balm has a mild honey and lemon scent and is in a deoderant stick container (very smart).  You simply twist the container and apply this wonderfully soothing balm onto your heels, elbows, or any rough spots around your body.  This balm goes on a bit greasy, but absorbs quickly and leaves my skin feeling soothed and protected.  My cracked and dry heels have been loving this!

They also carry a lovely nail and cuticle cream, lip balm, and their own facial skincare line and handmade soaps. 

Support our locally owned and small businesses by checking out the inyourbonnet website store.   I promise you won’t bee disappointed!

Oh. My. Goodness.

Has anyone seen Sephora’s Spring Beauty 2008 catalog?  Uh-may-zing.  It’s everything that is wonderful about color. I was turning the pages and exclaiming out loud at all the gorgeous products they have highlighted.  This is one special made for people like me, slaves to bold, new, and colorful.  Make Up Forever has some wonderfully brilliant cream colors.  Vincent Longo has released some limited edition mascaras in several colors and white(!).  Gold is everywhere and it is fabulous! Also big this season is purple, which I am so excited about.

Products that have me jumping for joy with my tax refund check in hand:

• Tarte cheek stain in “Full Blossom.”  How gorgeous is that?  I can only imagine how awesome it would look, and I give Tarte’s cheek stains two hearty thumbs up so let me know if you get your hands on one.
• Stila Cherry Crush lip and cheek stain.  Beautiful color and the pen style container would be perfect to toss in your purse for touch ups. Only at Sephora.
• Laura Mercier liquid eyeliner in “Bordeaux.”  Beautiful color, great for a minimal daytime look and for a night out. Limited Edition AND a Sephora exclusive so get it while you can.
• Also only at Sephora, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on eye pencil in “Rockstar.”  Jen and I have both waxed poetic on these pencils before. They go on so smooth and have a true, long lasting color that simply can’t go wrong.
• Too Faced Mood Swing emotionally activated lip gloss. You read that right.  It claims to turn “from clear to your perfect shade of pink.”  Very cool. 
• ON10 lip balms in vintage style packaging and great flavors like Hershey’s milk chocolate and Dr Pepper berries and cream.  Sign me up for one of each!
• Urban Decay loose pigments.  New.  I just got my hands on some and I love it!  Loose pigments are great, but until now have been a little hard to handle.  Tap some out onto a tissue and use a brush from there, not really easy to take in your bag for touch ups, etc. And heaven help you if one of your kids gets that thing open…Mess-O-Rama! Urban Decay solved that problem by making a brush part of the container.  Think nail polish with a firmer brush. You still need to remember to tap off any excess but it is loads easier and cleaner than traditional pigment.  I even put it on in my car (not while driving of course, safety first).  The brush is the perfect shape for all over application when using the wide side, and for a liner when using the thinner edge.  It stays beautifully and I’m hooked! 

There are 5 makeup kits featured, including the Cargo Blu-Ray collection that everybody’s buzzing about.  Some of the kits include a DVD or how-to as well, a great place to start at a decent price.

Sephora’s new eye shadow and blush duos show promise.  I’ve been very happy with Sephora brands products in the past so I can’t wait to get into a store and actually see a few hands on.  I also want to see Cover FX’s Skinprep FX treatment and priming serum up close to get a feel for it.  It sure sounds divine.

The best thing about this catalog?  It’s a two in one.  Flip it over and you have your skincare booklet.  Divided into sections for things like natural products, acne relief, age solutions, moisture and others, you’re sure to find something that will pique your interest.  Jen, if you haven’t seen this yet then I’m sure you’ll love it!

Didn’t sign up for the catalog?  Haven’t received it yet?  Dying to know what I’m talking about?  Pop on over to the online version and take a peek.  You’re welcome!

I have a very sweet seven year old daughter named Sarah. We live in a very dry climate and Sarah is constantly licking her lips because they feel dry and chapped. As we all know, this only makes the problem worse. Typically, cute little Sarah can be seen with a sore, cracked and very red upper lip all winter long!

As a mommy, I have been searching for lip balms to help Sarah keep her lips from being such a problem. Many of these balms have peppermint oil or something that causes stinging on an already sensitive lip. Aquaphor ointment, Chapstick, and good ol Vaseline serve well as non-stinging, inexpensive balms for chapped little lips (and big people as well).

However, every once in a while you come across a product like “Chicken Poop” lip balm and you have to give it a go, I mean, a try. On their site: http://www.ilovechickenpoop.com/, the founder Jamie Tabor Schmidt reports the name’s origin:

The Name….Chicken Poop comes from Jamie’s goofy grandpa replying to her complaint of having dry lips. He’d say, “I know how to fix those dry lips, I’ll rub some chicken poop on ‘em so you won’t be lickin’ ‘em.” Brilliant, don’t you think?

and further adds that:

THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS NO POOP!!

I purchased “Chicken Poop” lip balm through drugstore.com and they had a buy one get one free offer, only about $1.35 for both. When it arrived a few days ago, Sarah was very surprised and gave me a big smile when I showed her the label on the tube. “See,” I said while pointing to the label, “it really does say Chicken Poop, free range Chicken Poop!”

Not only has she loved using this lip balm, she proudly brought it with her to school the next day. After announcing to her friends that she uses “Chicken Poop” on her lips, one of her best friends Rachael questioned her claim. Sarah gladly displayed her lip balm to everyone in her 2nd grade class, now is that cool or what? Without a doubt, she has become a big fan of the stuff, Sarah Loves Chicken Poop!!!