Is it just me or is there another “revolutionary” new makeup product introduced every freaking day?! Just walking into Ulta or Sephora (or even Walgreens!) sends many chicas into fits of hysteria, reaching for the nearest brown bag to regulate their breathing. It’s all so overwhelming.

So how can you know which product – among the sea of thousands – is the best? Which does what you need it to do? Which ones are worth the extra money? Let me help. I don’t know every beauty product out there, but I’ve tested a lot of them and I’ll let you know which are worth the money and which are not.

What it is: WEN by Chaz Dean Sweet Almond Mint Cleansing Conditioner

Why this should be in your bag

First off, everyone I know washes their hair. Unless you have dreadlocks, I really don’t see why you wouldn’t. However, lots of common shampoos contain Sodium Laureth Sulfate or a variation on this harsh ingredient. Basically, it’s the first ingredient in both shampoo AND plain, old dish soap. So essentially, if your shampoo has SLS, you might as well be saving yourself some money and just multi-tasking with Dawn.

Recently, there has been a movement by some companies to remove SLS from their shampoos or to create a conditioner that also cleanses. And that’s just what this product from WEN by Chaz Dean is! I received this in a kit that you can order via infomercials. While I haven’t used the styling products a ton (I’m loyal to my routine for my super-finicky, curly hair), I did give the Cleansing Conditioner a go!

Read More »

Over the past few months, I’ve written a lot about how nervous I am to graduate, to leave college for good, and enter the real world. I’ve felt scared, nervous, anxious, and every other emotion that comes naturally to a graduating senior.

I’ve stressed about my lack of job, the economy, and how the heck I am going to figure out things like insurance, paying bills, and not drinking on Sunday nights. But despite all my reservations about leaving the wonderful world of college behind, I’m also really, really, fantastically excited to graduate.

Like many of you, I’ve had the best time over the past four years. I literally cannot imagine my life any differently. When I was a senior in high school, leaving my comfort zone for a college over 2,000 miles across the country was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. But it was also the best decision I’ve ever made. I knew no one and had no friends. But four years later, I’ve found a network of teachers, mentors, and peers that have helped me grow into the person I want to be. Who knows what my life would be like without the people I’ve met or the experiences I’ve had here in college? Read More »

Today is May 5th. Many of you are wearing sombreros and chugging tequila graduate in a few weeks, or even days. (Did I just freak you out!?) Thankfully I’m on a college quarter system, so I have one more month of bliss before entering the real world. But still, there never seems to be enough time these days for everything I want to do.

I want to tie up lose ends, check off more things on my bucket list, hang with my friends, take those last few exams, and maybe even make out with that hot guy in my Comm class. But despite all the things I’ve yet to do, I still know graduation is approaching. And like paying taxes or eventual old lady boob saggage, there is nothing I can do to stop it.

Soon all of us will be packing up, moving out, and moving on. We will pack up our extra long twin bed sheets, our dorm room essentials, and say goodbye to our roommates. And for the first time ever, many of us will be living on our own for the first time ever. Think about it: we’ve lived with family until college where we had the luxury of dorm life or a whole slew of roommates to share our space wtih. But now we’re on our own. Many of you may cheer and jump at this notion. Others may weep.

I’m somewhere in between. I mean, I hated wearing shower shoes all the time, but I didn’t mind the coed bathroom (I see you, unnamed hottie sophomore year that “accidentally” let his towel drop a few times). I’m excited about leaving my 10X12 jail cell behind, but I’m apprehensive about going it alone in the real world. There are just pros and cons to both, and I can’t decide which I prefer. Read More »

There are a few unspoken rules that make it acceptable for you see your best friend’s (or guy friend’s) bare ass in certain situations: a dare, a (drunken) hookup, a music festival, or on amateur night at a strip bar.

But in the shower? That might be going a little too far, and one Green Mountain College student agrees. Jennifer Weiler, a Green Mountain freshman, is suing her school for a lack of girls-only bathrooms. And homegirl’s making a pretty good case. I mean, I can count on about three fingers the amount of people I know who would feel comfortable stripping down and jumping in the shower with strangers and hall-mates of the male persuasion. Especially if nothing sexual was being followed.

Some say, “Don’t knock it till you try it,” but I’m pretty sure I don’t need to try showering with my R.A. to know it’s not going to go down well. Read More »

Although I am a firm believer in leading an environmentally-friendly life,  I am first and foremost a college-aged woman.  And what does that mean?  It means I am absolutely unwilling to look ugly just for the sake of the environment.

After doing a little research, however, I discovered that being green does not mean being heinous.  In fact, it means quite the opposite.

Here are my favorite green tips that also make you hotter.  Read on, pretty lady…

Ditch the dryer: Using a hair dryer for only 5 minutes a day for an entire year uses enough energy to power a basic light bulb for 3,259 hours.  And guess what?  You don’t really need it!  Drying your hair frequently can crack the hair’s cuticle and withdraw moisture, leaving you with dry and brittle strands.  Naturally drying your hair even just a few days a week can save your strands and save the environment.  If you just can’t live without your daily drying, opt for an eco-friendly one.  The Go Green dryer is made from recycled materials, is printed with soy ink, and uses 26% less energy than a normal dryer.

Turn down the scalding shower: Not only do long, hot showers waste water, they are also a huge energy expense.  Cut down your shower time and the temperature, and you can save tons of money on your monthly bill.  Plus, cold water is good for your bod!   Hot water can have very drying properties, both to your skin and your hair.  Taking a colder shower leaves your hair silkier and your skin softer, all while increasing circulation and bumping up your immune system.  Now how’s that for a morning routine? Read More »

I love being green.

But I loathe the possible side effect of smelling like a blend of hemp and granola from all my green efforts. And I hate when other people smell that way, too. Thus, I have put together a list of the best enviro-friendly bath product companies for ladies.  No hemp or granola; only cute, yummy-smelling products that also happen to be good for the environment.

So go ahead – splurge a little in these stores.   Your skin and your “mother” (nature, that is) will thank you.

100% Pure – This company boasts no animal products, fragrances, thickeners, emulsifiers, or preservatives.  Just pure, smelly, fruity goodness.  They feature a full line of bath, skin, and hair care products.  My personal fave is their body washes that actually make you smell like what it says on the bottle (genius, I know!).  They have several scents to choose from, ranging from mint eucalyptus to dark chocolate mocha. (Editor’s Note: If it’s all natural, can we eat it!?) My personal fave, however, is the Honey Almond Milk Shower Gel.  It’s seriously like taking a bath in a creamy almond smoothie, but without all of the clean up.

Lush Cosmetics – This company has stores in 35 countries across the world.  Lush hasn’t just conquered the far reaches of the globe, they’ve also become one of the green powerhouses of the bath product industry.  Their products are all natural and they have practically eliminated any unnecessary packaging from their products. Most items can be purchased by the pound and are wrapped with parchment paper upon purchase.  For their catalogs, and when packaging cannot be avoided, they make sure to use post-consumer materials to save them trees.   Lush also makes all of their products by hand (I’m talkin’ smashing coconuts with hammers kinda work), which saves energy and provides jobs.  If you’re going to give Lush a try, I strongly recommend trying their skin care line.  I personally love Ultrabland, a peanut oil based cleanser that can seriously take off ANY makeup you may put on your eyes without the painful sting of alcohol-based makeup removers. Read More »

As a group, women do a really good job of hiding our less attractive qualities. We cover up our imperfections with makeup, we squeeze our “winter weight” into some Spanx, and we make our friends take our phones away so the guy we’re crushing on doesn’t know how crazy we really are.

And that is only scratching the surface.

Because men look at us like pretty, little, delicate flowers, there are so many things about women that most guys just do not know. Things that most women would be horrified to share and most men would be even more disgusted to know. But you know what? I don’t care. Women are people, too, and if guys can walk around scratching their balls, then we should be able to lay it all out there, too.

So in an effort to bridge the gap between the boys and the girls, I thought I’d let some dudes in on a few secrets we ladies have been keeping for.e.verrrr.

1. We fart. And sometimes, it’s loud. And if we’re trying to eat really healthy, it’s smelly.

2. We poop. We may even bring magazines or a laptop in there to pass the time. And if we’re really comfortable with someone, we’ll catch up on the phone. But always with a warning. We may be good at multitasking, but we aren’t inconsiderate a-holes.

3. We talk about farts and poop. And we laugh, because farts and poop are funny.

4. We don’t shower every day. We may argue that it’s bad for our skin or our hair looks better greasy, but sometimes we just don’t feel like showering. So we put on some deodorant and a few extra sprays of perfume and call it a day.

5. We like porn, too. Some of us like it more than others, and we probably don’t spend as much time watching it as dudes, but even ladies like watching a little nookie sometimes. Especially nookie involving a hot guy with chiseled abs, a tight butt and a rock hard glistening chest….

Oh, sorry. Got a little sidetracked there for a moment.

6. We can probably eat more than guys. Some ladies may stick to salads or half-portions of pasta when the guys are around, but bring us a cheese pizza and we can down that thing like it’s nobody’s business. And then we’ll follow it up with something chocolatey. Or fried. And not even break a sweat.

There you have it. All our secrets, right there on the table.
I feel so….free.

[One of the greatest aspects of college life is the morning-after recap with friends. You stumble out of bed, grab your liquid of choice, and gather around the living room to replay (and remind yourself of) the events of last night. You laugh, you cringe and you share the highest of highs...and the rock-bottom lowest of lows. We thought we'd bring the fun of the recap to CollegeCandy, so grab that coffee and take part in the deliciously awkward moments your CC friends have to share.]

Last week, my boyfriend and I met for dinner in Manhattan and ended up going to his friend’s apartment afterwards to hang out. It got pretty late, and one of the roommates said that we could crash in an empty room (the guy who lived there was vacationing in Brazil) if we didn’t want to go all the way uptown in the rain.

Although I had my doubts about sleeping in someone else’s bed (What if he has some bodily lice? Is it so wrong if we have sex here? Where am I?), we decided to accept the offer. After all, we were in a fabulous building in the financial district overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, and I was starting to get a headache from a little too much red wine at dinner. Navigating the subway wasn’t looking too hot.

In the morning, when we thought that everyone had left the apartment, my guy and I took a shower together. Why we felt the need to shower in someone else’s apartment (with someone else’s loofah), I do not know, but we did. And, since everyone knows that joint showering is no fun without at least a little touching, we decided to have sex. Hey – it seemed like the cleanest place to do the deed in someone else’s house, there would be no need for cleanup, and, well, it’s just inevitable when you’re in a steamy bathroom with your devilishly good looking boyfriend!

Needless to say, it got pretty hot and heavy…. Read More »

When you’re trying to get in and out of the shower as quickly as you can to head on to bigger and better things, (a.k.a the beach), it can be easy to bypass seemingly unimportant tasks.  You probably wash your face, your body and your hair, but do you take the time for proper exfoliation?  I’m guilty of this myself, especially in the summertime when my skin doesn’t seem so dry and flakey.  But that all changed yesterday.

While walking in Trader Joe’s, I found myself in the beauty aisle (because it’s right by the wine) and fell in love with a sea salt exfoliating grapefruit scrub. It smelled delicious, so I threw it in my basket (along with TJ’s cookies, some cereal and the best dark chocolate covered pretzels on this planet). When I got home I ate a few pretzels, tore off my clothes and took my new salt scrub to the shower. And what a lovely shower it was. It took only one go with my new salt scrub to remember why exfoliating is so important. Read More »

You know what turns me on? Maintaining my bikini line.

Ok, so maybe not (and maybe that’s about the only thing that doesn’t these days….), but I do get a bit rowdy for two-in-one products. You know: shampoo AND conditioner, moisturizer AND SPF, a friend AND benefits…

And now I can add razor AND vibrator to the list.

Yes, shaving that bikini line just got a lot more fun. The people over at Tinge have just created the ultimate shower product for women: a water proof razor for trimming your nether regions that also acts as a shower rockin’ vibrator when the cap is on.

Be still my heart.

Not only does this puppy do double duty downtown, but anyone who sees it laying around your apartment won’t give you the “Aw, you have to do it yourself?” look or, worse, the “Lauren, what is this?” question as you turn around and see your mother holding your Pocket Rocket in her hand. It is a razor, after all, and that’s exactly what it looks like.

Oh and did I mention that it also boasts 32 speed/mode combinations?

This thing is seriously the best invention since the Bumpit. Goodbye bikini waxes and hellooooo shower time.