ProductWhores

Very Sexy and Glittery

Every Christmas Victoria's Secret surprises me with their holiday offerings (and I'm actually not even talking about their awesome flannel pjs which are a winter staple for me).  Their cosmetics line always kicks-butt and this year is no different.  Two stand-outs which I am obsessing over for stocking stuffers are Very Sexy Shimmer Lotion and Sexy Little Things Noir Tease Shimmer Powder.  Very Sexy is a sultry mix of vanilla orchid, clementine and blackberry.  The scent is intoxicating, but not overpowering, and the shimmer is delicate so you don't look like a human discoball.  I love that the lotion sinks right in, leaves skin feeling soft and the scent lingers the better part of the day (but not in an obnoxious way).  The Sexy Little Things Noir Tease Shimmer Powder is an awesome golden-glisten powder which looks fantastic on (again, not too overpowering with the glitter) but smells so ridiculously amazing that people have been stopping me to ask what scent I'm wearing.  The fragrance is black vanilla, frozen pear and gardenia but really it's most deep vanilla for me.  It reminds me of the Lavanila line - only sexier.  Love, love, love this product and at $25.00 it's a no-brainer for a gift.  I am especially loving using the powder as a perfume because it means way easier travel people (no spilling or measuring ounces).  

Note:  Samples of these items were sent to me by a PR representative working with Victoria's Secret.

Stuff It - Last Minute!

Okay, okay, deep breath... I mean, it's less than one week to Christmas and you haven't finished your shopping?  No worries because I've compiled my fave stuffers for this year, so you can seek them out for the moms, daughters, sisters, friends, co-workers in your life.

Victoria's Secret  Holiday Shimmer in Very Sexy:  Total glittery stand-out.  Love this spray because you control where the glitter goes, and it smells sooooo good (but not overpowering at all).  Retails for $25.00

Lorac Box Office Hit:  This ULTA exclusive is ridiculously awesome!  12 eyeshadows, 2 liners, 1 blush, 1 bronzer and 8 lip colors all come contained in the most adorable mock-croc palette case.  Retails for $35.00 which is a total steal.

  Skincando's Combat-Ready Balm:  This amazing salve is perfect for dry, chapped, winter skin and lips.  An absolute miracle cream packaged in the cutest little glass container.  A must-have for everyone!  Retails for $5.00 - $60.00 depending on size.

 

A Beautiful Life's Honey Do Shampoo & Conditioner:  Amazing product in seriously the cutest packaging I've seen for haircare!  The scent is intoxicating (but surprisingly not too sweet which I love), the shine it creates will make other envious and the price is can't-be-beat at only $30.00 for the set.

 
Crazy Rumors Lip Balms:  This line of delicious lip balms cannot be beat.  The flavors are fantastically innovative (and they have plenty to choose from), the formula is super-moisturizing and the price is ridiculously affordable.  Retails for $3.99 per balm.

 Note:  I received samples of some of the above products from PR representatives who work with the various companies

Midnight Glamour

Victoria's Secret Beauty has released their holiday collection (yay!) and this year it's especially fantastic!  Their limited-edition Midnight Glamour collection contains Hypergloss Eye Shimmer, a midnight blue Nail Laquer, Luminous Highlighting Powder and two palettes which make me scream in delight every time I think about them.  Their Deluxe Lip Palette contains four totally stunning lipsticks and glosses perfect for any holiday party (clear sparkle, nude gloss, berry lipstick and red lipstick).  You can wear any of the shades by themselves, or layer the lipstick and gloss for a beautiful look.  The formulas are actually highly-moisturizing and come in the most adorable blue, jewel palette case.  The Deluxe Eye Palette contains four sparkly eyeshadows (champagne, bronze, dark silver and midnight) and a gel liner in black.  So far, my favorite holiday palettes this season.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love these palettes.  Actually, if this says it - I bought multiples to give as gifts (c'mon, who can resist them at this awesome price!) Eye Palette retails for $24 and the Lip Palette is only $16.

Note:  Samples were sent to me by a PR representative working with VSB.

Very Sexy

I've never bought any Victoria's Secret makeup before.  I'm not really sure why - probably because I tend to blow my cash on all of their cute pajamas and underwear when I'm in one of their stores and don't have any money left to even think about makeup when I'm done.  But today I was browsing through the store and stumbled upon this gem from the Very Sexy Heidi Klum Collection.  As a rule, I don't buy makeup designed by supermodels because the way I look at it, they already won the genetic jackpot, they don't need my hard earned money as well, but this Glitter Liquid Eyeliner in Licorice was coming home with me from the second I laid eyes on it.  It's a black liquid liner with emerald and gold glitter in it and as gorgeous as it looks in the tube, it's even better on.  The emerald color is what shows up the most and it just makes eyes sparkle and shimmer and is in general, everything I want in a liner for a night out.  It's sexy without being completely in your face - the glitter is obvious, but not in a "I just discovered makeup and OH MY GOD I'm totally going to wear sparkles ALL over my eyes!!!!" kind of way.  I still haven't completely mastered the art of liquid liner, so I'm definitely going to have to play around with this one some more, but I can already tell that it's going to be a staple in my holiday party rotation.  It would look great paired with the rest of Heidi's Very Sexy Collection, which I'm kind of regretting not buying because the pale peach lips and subtle peach cheeks would accent this liner perfectly.  Good thing there's a Victoria's Secret in every mall so I can fix that mistake as soon as possible!

The Licorice eyeliner is only $10 and is available at Victoria's Secret stores and online at victoriassecret.com.

Start The New Year With Some Fizz!

Happy New Year! I don't know about everyone else, but I spent the majority of the first day of 2008 making it a goal to finish off all the Christmas cookies and candy before I start my new "healthy eating" routine set to begin tomorrow. So, with a very full and very sick stomach, I had to sit and write about the Strawberry Fizz Body Glimmer Wash by Victoria's Secret. When I see a gel body wash, especially something glittery, I usually assume I would hate it because I'm over the age of 12. But, despite what I usually think, this body wash is actually really yummy smelling and doesn't leave any glitter on the skin at all! Smells of fresh strawberries and the scent sticks with you all day. I didn't find it moisturizing, but my skin wasn't feeling tight either so that seems to be a plus to me. The pop top is super cool (okay, wow, I have no life to say that) but it pops up when you press one side - kind of Jetsons to me. (oh, and sidenote, if any of you got the awesome Victoria's Secret giftcard that pops out both sides this year - how neat was that?!) Okay, enough of my dorkiness. Although the pop top is space-age, it does tend to rub off after sitting in the shower a while so you may find little bits of silver coating on your shower floor. Small price to pay for a delicious body wash. The Slice of Life one will be my next purchase - smells just like Angel Food Cake. Who wouldn't want their ass to smell like that?

Glittery Goodness

Probably one of the only things I miss about being a 13-year-old was the fantastic amount of goopy, glittery lip glosses that used to smell of delicious delights such as bubble gum and fruit punch.  But, with the changing times and my desire to be more mature, there haven’t been any products that fit my adult need for glittery goodness.  Well, things have just changed.  I have discovered Victoria's Secret's Beauty Rush lip glosses and they are fabulous.  The 13-year-old within you is right now jumping for joy.  The flavors are fruity and fun and the array of colors will match any outfit.  Plus, the glitter in all the tubes is magnificent – the perfect amount of glitter without feeling the need to wear a Hypercolor jacket and stretch jeans.  While they’re not the most moisturizing lip glosses on the planet, it really doesn’t matter because you’ll be so happy with the shine and the fact your lips smell like fruit punch.  Plus, with the cheap price of three for fifteen bucks right now, you can afford to get Melonrageous, Strawberry Fizz AND I Want Candy.  Sweet!

Hand it over

Okay, so we are all well aware that we are supposed to wear sunscreen on our faces everyday, regardless of the weather outside, and I would say most of us are doing that.  Yay, go us!  But what we aren’t doing is wearing sunscreen on our hands.  They say we can prevent premature aging on our hands by just wearing cream with an SPF in it.   I admit it, I never wear sun protection on my hands because I’ve never been able to find a cream that contains SPF, smells good and absorbs quickly – oh, and that didn’t cost a bizillion dollars (Hi, Clarins, over here, I’m talking to you with your $28.00 hand lotion)  I decided to browse stores in search of hand cream and I found myself magnetically pulled into Victoria’s Secret to check out the new stuff lining their shelves. Their Secret Spa collection is actually really nice and has a fantastic hand cream that will now be a permanent fixture in my handbag.  All decked out in a soothing light blue tube, the Protective Hand & Nail Cream has such a delightfully light, clean and sexy scent to it.  Not to mention is has that amazing SPF 15 I’ve been looking for!  Extremely moisturizing and it instantly sinks into my hands.  Let’s put it this way, I put it on, closed the cap, put the tester down and was able to pick up a new tube instantly without it slipping out of my hands.  Awesome!  It says it contains three butters - Shea, Cupuacu and Illipe – and even though I have no clue what the second two butters are they must be delightful because my hands feel so baby-butt soft right now.  Now I can get my underwear and hand cream in the same store – one stop shopping, people. 

Bronze me

Usually when I sweep on Bronzer I look like a tangerine.  Because I’m disgustingly pale, any bronzer usually takes on a life of its own on my face, transforming me into a character from the Simpsons.  But for once, I found something that gives me a healthy non-radioactive glow.  Victoria’s Secret has put out a series of cosmetics and self-tanners called Bare Bronze.  The display has a large photo of this incredibly hot chick exposing the perfect amount of skin, just shy of indecent, and her body is glowing tan perfection.  Naturally, because I fall into every advertising trap, I picked up one of the face bronzers and got to work.  The beauty of this product is that there are two sides to the bronzer – one that’s a matte color and one that’s shimmering.  You can use them separate or together for that all over fantastic glow.  Color goes on very sheer so it’s easy to layer it so you don’t look like you’re wearing an odd mask of sorts.  Also, it comes in 4 “glow” shades numbered one to four so you’re sure to get the perfect hue for you.  No shocker, I bought glow one for myself – the lightest of the bronzers – and it really looks great on my skin.  Now, if I could just get rid of my stretch lines and cellulite, stop eating donuts and candy corn, and give myself some deep-rooted daddy issues I might look like the chick in the photo.