For all of the Preggos!

My sister sent me 2 books in the mail. One of them "Baby Bargains" is a must have for all Moms-to-be. The title in my opinion really sells the book short, because this book isn't just about finding cheap baby stuff. It is a detailed guide to buying all the things we need for our little one(and good Lord-there is a lot to buy!!). It compares all the major brands and takes in to account things like: safety, ease of use, cost, durability, ect and gives everything a grade. I especially love the stroller section (We have decided on the UppaBaby Vista after toying with the obvious other choices: Bugaboo(so 2008) and Orbit(not great safety ratings for the car seat)). Also they go over everything from changing tables to rockers to breast pumps to diapers to you name it-they cover it. A life saver when trying to sort through the crazy amount of baby stuff to choose from! The other book is equally as wonderful and useful(maybe even more so!) and I will blog about it next week! Happy Friday Bloggers! We are moving on Sunday-crazy!

Of Course I have Tried This!!

And I have to admit: it works. Very well. I started using Latisse in May of 2007 and the picture of me (I really tried to find one that zoomed in on my lashes-but this is the closest shot i could find-please ignore the vein bulging out of my forehead!)is from July 1st 2007. So in about 6 weeks my lashes were off the hook!! Long and thick. Everyone asked me if I was using fake lashes. At the time Latisse was not FDA approved yet, so I couldn't be very open about what I was using or my buddy who gave it to me could have gotten in trouble (sorry if I fibbed to you!). Now it is everywhere. A ton of my friends use it and I can spot a Latisse user from a mile away and its not just from their lashes. A common side effect(and my biggest issue w/ it) is it can cause eye redness. So at work, people would make jokes about me drinking too much the night before because my eyes were always red and glossy. Another issue I have is it can actually turn your eye color to brown. I love brown eyed girls-but I am pretty attached to my hazel eyes and didn't think it was worth the trade off. So I used it that whole summer and loved it-but after a while just got sick of the red eyes and decided I was OK w/ my own lashes. I do miss them though-so maybe if they perfect the formulation so that it doesn't brown my eyeballs and stops causing redness-I will give it another go!

Fellow Product Junkies: I need your help!

I have gotten several requests to post about the best under eye cream and deodorant. I use both religiously-but must admit, Im not in love with what I currently use. Please either comment on here, send me a message on facebook or babycenter or text me! The people have spoken and as a good Product Junkie-I must help them!!!! And posts are always better with a picture so here is a shameless pic of our family at my mother in laws house last fall. Ha ha-any excuse to post pics about the pups!!

Best Sunscreens for you Face!

I hate to admit this but I am an ex-tanner :( My Bestie Jules and I used to do what we called "double days" in college. We would wake up, drive to a tanning salon then come home and lay out at the Pi Phi house until it was time to get ready for our evenings festivities! Talk about sun damage :( Oh well-we can't turn back the clock but I have had to do a lot of skin "correcting" on the not so cute brown spots I accumulated on my face (mainly my forehead). I will post soon about how I finally got rid of the brown spots(they are gone!), but today's post is about how I keep them away: Sunscreen. Not just any screen will do. The best, most protective one is Clarins SPF 40 oil free. I promise you its better than your Neutrogena SPF 70 or whatever sunscreen you are currently using. It isn't really about the SPF in this case-its about the fact that this sunscreen has a physical block too and the sun just does not penetrate it. It amazing and it changed my skin! I get it at Sephora or Nordies, its $40 a bottle-but that bottle lasts forever. If I am walking, gardening, boating or spending any significant amount of time in the sun-I am religious about putting this on.

The other one is Kate Somerville Protect SPF 30. It smells so good and isn't as protective as the Clarins. This is my winter sunscreen or the one I wear if I'm not going to be outside at much (because I wear sunscreen on my face every single day). I get this one at Nordies too and I love it. It is moisturizing-but doesn't leave my skin oily at all. With these 2 sunscreens in my bag-I can happily enjoy my summer and know that my face won't pay the price down the road :)

Best Toothpaste and a Weird New Discovery

Good morning bloggers! I have 2 products to talk about today. The 1st is simply my favorite toothpaste ever: Crest 3D White Vivid Toothpaste in Radiant Mint. It is the perfect combo of minty-ness and I swear it really does whiten my teeth! I have to give credit where it is due though: Kevin was the one who discovered it. He picked up a tube when it was on sale and we will never look back! We use it with our electric toothbrushes and it not only cleans like crazy-but it also is a great breath freshener!! So my second product is pretty random. I am obsessed/addicted with flossing my teeth. It brings me joy for some strange reason. Well, my mom was visiting a few weeks ago and I mentioned how much of a flossing lunatic I am and she one upped me with "Welll, have you ever tried a waterpick"?!?! What??!!!?? Never heard of it-but I was intrigued! So we went to Target and she bought me one. It was about $50ish and it took a while to master-but it could be my new favorite hobby! I do it in the shower (or else water ends up everywhere)and it takes about a minute (sometimes more because I like to do it a few times) and it feels soooo good and it is really good for your teeth and gums! It is a cordless one that you fill up with warm water and hold near your gum line and it blasts a thin but powerful stream of water. So now I floss in the nighttime and waterpick in my morning shower. Ahhhhhh it makes my teeth extra clean!!

The Yummiest, Best, Make-Your-Skin-Soft Scrub!!!

I was never a huge body scrub fan. I would forget to use them and I hated how oily they felt. Well that changed! Now that Im getting older(30!), I try to find moisturizers in all shapes and forms and that includes body scrubs. I was introduced to the LaLicious scrubs a couple of years ago while visiting my sister. She left a little tub in the guest shower and I decided "What the heck-I'll try this". Now it is in my top 10 favorite everyday luxuries!!( More on everyday luxuries later). It is a sugar scrub that has oils in it so it is crazy moisturizing! The scents they come in are heavenly! I especially love the Passionfruit/Lime and Brown Sugar/Vanilla. They should be the very last thing you do before you get out of the shower and they are so rich-you may not need lotion after you use them! Kevin definitely compliments me on how soft my skin is after I use this delightful scrub! You can order it online from http://www.lalicious.com/ and I suggest you do bc they throw in a little sample with every purchase! The company also makes amazing body cream and body oils too! Happy scrubbing!

My Crack aka Kiehl's Lip Balm #1

Hello, my name is Hillary B*** and Im a lip balm-aholic. Ok, this post is way past due...Any of you who know me, know that this is my #1 favorite product. Ever. I love/need it and always carry a tub w/ me(even in bar class, in the pool, at the doctors office, during dinner-I mean I never am w/out it!). A few weeks ago I was at Starbucks with one of my dear friends Julian. My purse was unzipped and he caught a glimpse of the 6 tubs of Kiehl's Lip Balm that I had in my purse at one time. He had to call me out on it and through laughs asked me if I really need to carry 6(!) tubs with me in one purse??!!?? I have to say-that yes I do! Its my own personal crack (and this crack is not whack!) and I am totally dependent on it. It is the most moisturizing lip balm on the market. It has the perfect amount of shine, but isn't too sticky. It doesn't have a taste(because lets face it, coconut on the lips tastes good for a day or so-but it gets old real quick!), my only gripe is that it is only SPF 4. It comes in a pot/tub or in a tube-but I swear the pot/tub is WAY better than the tube. I also put in on my cuticles and never get hangnails or dry cuticles. You can get it anywhere Kiehl's is sold, I generally get mine at Nordies. Ahhhh just talking about it makes me happy!

Gift with Purchase??

I promised myself I would not be suckered into buying a certain amount of cosmetics to get a "free gift with purchase" anymore. It is just wasteful because I never use those mini-tubes of product and I already have way to much junk/clutter in my bathroom as is(we are moving in 2 weeks-so I started packing and am SHOCKED but how much crap I own!!!). Well, I broke my promise. I was at the 1st day of the Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale (started last Wednesday) and I saw the cutest little make up bag that clinique was hawking as part of their gift...Trina Turk designed it! And I heart anything and everything that Trina does...it's a bit obsessive-bit I think she is the chicest, most fab person ever. She is the queen of Palm Dessert and I wish I was the princess! Soooooo, I bought $50 worth of clinique stuff (under eye concealer, under eye cream(which I'll post about soon!), and some lip gloss). I got my gift home and gave my mom the stuff inside the make up bag (ha ha it is her junk now!) and now I have my cute little make up bag that I somehow spent over $50 to get???

Easiest cup of joe ever

Good Morning bloggers! As I sit here, doing my morning routine (wake up, make coffee, drink coffee as I visit all my Internet sites: FB, babycenter, a few blogs, ect) I feel compelled to write about Starbucks Via Ready Brew. I'm not an instant coffee kind of gal, but things were getting dicey around here in that department. I normally brew coffee every morning for Kevin to drink on the road and for me to drink here. Well now that I'm on decaf(oh caffeine-how I miss you!)and Kevin still needs his caffeine to wake up-Ive been running to Starbucks for lattes every morning(too inconvenient and too much $$). And as much as I love my lattes-I missed my little routine. So my mom(who is a coffee snob too) mentioned that the Starbucks Via isn't bad at all. I tried it and its pretty good! Not amazing-but pretty darn good. Now it is sooo easy to make Kev's regular and my decaf in 2 seconds. So for the next 5 months until we are both on caffeine, I think its a great way to start the day :)

Ahhhhh Summer!

So I know summer hasn't officially started according to my calender. But for me, Memorial Day weekend signifies the start of the season. There are so many smells that remind me of the season: the beach, Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil, Coppertone, Jasmine and BBQ are just a few. 2 years ago I stumbled upon a limited edition perfume line from Estee Lauder called Bronze Goddess. It comes in the most fabulous bottle and makes me want to be either: on a yaught somewhere or in Palm Dessert (yep I love the dessert so much-I even go in June!). Looking at the bottle now just makes me happy :) The scent is summer. It smells like a mix of Coppertone meets coconut oil meets the beach meets delicious meets chic!

I found that it wasn't such a limited edition and was actually more of a seasonal item and it is back! This year I bought the Body Oil Spray(I'm OBSESSED with body oils-more on that in a future post) and it has not disappointed. I want to throw on a cute jumper or dress (anything Tory Burch, DVF, Trina Turk or Milly to be specific!), grab a mojito (virgin for me!) and spray this fantastic summer in a bottle all over myself! Have a fun holiday weekend :)