My name is Diana, and I’m a mascara junkie. In addition to touching up my Almay retractable eyeliner numerous times a day, my purse always holds an eyelash curler and a tube of my mascara-of-the-month.

I am not one of those classic Maybelline Great Lash girls. When I shop for a new mascara, I pick up whichever package has the most exciting adjectives (Volum’ Express Turbo Boost!) and lofty promises (“Visibly lengthens by 40% Volumizes up to 4X!).

And yet, despite all my efforts and the naturally thick, dark lashes I start with, I can never quite achieve that flirty, heavy eyelash fringe I was seeking. I don’t envy celebrity bodies—I envy their lashes. Read More »

I have a naturally rosy complexion. This means that using a blush product has basically been out of the question for me due to my face ending up looking like this. In other words, ridiculous and unattractive. No matter what color or brand I would try out, it seemed like blush and myself were a hopeless cause.

Until, I found a new product, Smashbox O-Glow, and it’s amazing. According to the retailer, it is “the first intuitive blush, this clear gel reacts with your personal skin chemistry to turn cheeks the exact color you blush, naturally in just seconds! What it is formulated to do: When applied, the skin’s moisture activates the energizing Goji Berry-C Complex™.

It creates a microcirculatory effect, producing a rosy flush that lasts all day. Completely natural looking, waterproof, preservative and fragrance-free formula glides on smoothly for a healthy, glowing blush that’s you, only prettier.”

So basically, it goes on as a gel and magically reacts with your skin for the perfect shade of blush. I tried it, loved it, and am now an advocate. It left me with dewy, slightly tinted cheeks that looked natural and not painted on. Read More »

As much as I admire women who just roll out of bed and go, I’m not one of them. I wouldn’t call myself high-maintenance, but I do shave, pluck, wax, color, and lotion unapologetically on a regular basis.

It seems, however, that I’ve been leaving out something in my primping routine—nipple tinting.

Head to your local Sephora and you’ll find Benefit Benetint, a water(aka saliva)-resistant nipple tint to get your nipples that perfect shade of rosy pink.

The product, originally conceived in the seventies as cheek and lip tint for exotic dancers, is being remarketed, according to Benefit, to give women the “pert and fresh-looking” nipples they’ve been dreaming of. Not sure if it’s worth the purchase, considering that you tend to keep your girls covered up most of the day (I assume)?

“Even if you don’t show it off, you know they’re rosier and more perky,” Benefit spokeswoman Alison Haljun tells New York Magazine.

Perhaps putting on nipple makeup is no different than tweezing your eyebrows religiously or retouching your eyeliner 16 times over the course of a night out, but I think we’ve officially gone too far in making women feel inadequate. Read More »

Maybe she’s born with it, but for me, it’s definitely Maybelline. Like most women, I don’t even think about how many beauty products, from face wash to perfume, I layer on every day. Something I’ve given even less thought to is what’s in my products—until I found Kaia House.

Jumping on the organic bandwagon a little late, I just discovered Kaia House, the foremost source for organic skin and beauty care. Kaia House focuses on banishing the use over of harmful petrochemicals, parabens and other skin offenders, and offers 20 lines of premium organic and natural products including celeb-trendy Osea, Perfect Organics, Red Flower, and Biotique.

But when it comes to beauty products, is going out of your way to buy organic really worth it? Absolutely, according to Kaia House. And after reading their extensive list of un-safe (and common) chemicals that should be avoided when purchasing beauty products, I think I’m a convert.

Read up on the dangers lurking in your makeup bag and then head to KaiaHouse.com for a more comprehensive list. Your skin will thank you! Read More »

Beauty is a non-negotiable attribute that one must have in order to fit the credentials of “celebrity”. Lucky for many in Hollywood, high-priced make-up artists trained at top beauty schools are able to transform even the ugliest ducklings into irresistible starlets.

Recently People took a look at an alternative breed of Hollywood royalty: The starlets who don’t need make-up to look absolutely gorgeous. Props to these actresses and performers who are comfortable enough in their own skin to shed the layers of make-up that most celebs don day and night. The girls all look gorgeous and as Jessica Biel mentions, many men prefer women who don’t wear any make up at all! So girls, ditch your compacts and eye lash curlers and join your favorite stars in celebrating natural beauty.

Photo Gallery After the jump. Read More »

I can honestly say that I find nothing better in life than a manicure/pedicure combo for the beautiful price of $25. Those Korean / Vietnamese women and men really know what they’re doing! Warm towels, massages, my favorite Essie colors (Wicked for the toes and Waltz for the fingers, obviously!) and Maury Povich playing the background; it is simply heaven.

Unfortunately, my last trip to my favorite neighborhood nail shop –the difference between it and the other 20 salons on my street I could not tell you, besides the fact that it is closest to the Dunkin Donuts where I get my morning brew – left me with less than a happy ending. (I am not speaking of that kind of happy ending.)

I have no problem with the fact that most of the people who work at this particular nail shop have a difficult time with English. I have been getting my nails done at shops like this for years, so it really comes as no surprise. But, until this particular day, I never realized just how much there is to learn about communicating in English beyond just verb conjugation. Read More »

I definitely would not consider myself a beauty junkie. I enjoy new products and like experimenting with makeup, I mean, what girl doesn’t? But the overwhelming amount of new stuff coming out each season seems almost impossible to really stay on top of.

Besides the fact that in college, most girls don’t have unlimited funds to spend on super expensive beauty products. We’re lucky to have a few free minutes in between classes and events to run down to the drugstore for a new tube of mascara. So, when a good deal and new brand comes along that catches my eye, I feel the need to share it with the masses who would appreciate it, aka CC readers.

ELF (Eyes, Lips, Face) makeup is my new obsession and recent splurge that I actually don’t feel too guilty about. Why? Because EVERYTHING on the website is only $1! Yes, that is right girls, just one freakin dollar for lip glosses, eye shadow pallets, all over color sticks and so much more…I bought ten items for a total of ten dollars plus some shipping, and voila, I’ve already got 10 things for the price of one product normally. Can’t beat that excitement for a boring summer day.

So we all know how expensive dying our hair is. And when you’re in college, it really sucks to have to shell out $200 every three to six months to get your roots re-touched and highlights re-done at an expensive salon. As a highlighted blonde myself, I’ve discovered a few (cheap) products that can help extend time between colorings.

Paul Mitchell’s Color Protect Shampoo is great for the daily washing of color-treated hair. It gently cleanses while adding strength, elasticity and body and contains sunscreens to extend the life and longevity of your hair’s color. Read More »

Kids, the year is 2007. Lindsay’s doing blow on camera, Paris is going to jail and people are actually dying their own pubic hair. Personally, I know very few people who even keep their pubic hair anymore but this product from Betty Beauty is anything but ordinary.

According to the website, the founder was in Rome and saw a hairstylist slyly slip a bag of a little extra hair dye to a woman and whisper “Per sotto, per farli combaciare” which translates to “for the hair down there…to make it match.” After reading the story, I figured that this would appeal most to someone who might be going grey down there (mental image of the Sex and the City episode where Samantha dyes her pubes and they end up orange) so I decided to ask my mom about the product to get her thoughts.

Now mind you, my mother is a total hippie-at-heart (the woman only wears a bra from the hours of 9-5) and after being asked what she thought about the idea of women actually dying their pubic hair, she responded “eww, gross, WHO would do that?!” Read More »

It’s no wonder young women of today are plagued by the constant pressures to be perfect, slim, and “beautiful”—whatever that means. Last I heard beauty was in the eye of the beholder, but apparently I’ve been mistaken.

Beauty is now and always has been in the hands of the fashion and entertainment industry; misleading the women of our country and others across the globe, for decades, with their lies, fabrications, and digitally-altered images of perfection.

I’ve always known that the many faultless models, spread far and wide across the pages of magazines, were air-brushed and loaded with makeup; but never had I imagined just how computer-generated these ladies truly were. Read More »