I had really good luck with my Pur Minerals 4-in-1 foundation powder, I would actually go so far to say that it was one of my favorite foundation powders I have ever used (still like Mac Studio Fix, damn those ingredients) and it was for sure the best mineral foundation powder I have ever used.  But, I have a wandering eye when it comes to cosmetics and after two purchases of Pur Minerals I was off to find something different.

I stumbled upon Korres Multivitamin powder while I was in Sephora planning on buying Tarte’s Provacteur mineral powder.  I was talking to a sales associate about color matching me when I happened to glance over and see a display full of Korres cosmetics.  I knew that they had extended their line to makeup, but I hadn’t yet checked it out.  As soon as I saw all the products I started thinking, “Tarte, who?”.   Once I found out they had powders, I was sold.  I love Korres for so many different reasons.  They have the most amazing website, their products are eco-friendly (packaging too), they have yummy scented lotions, beautiful packaging and as a bonus the company was founded in Athens. 

The powder itself has amazing qualities.  It’s a multivitamin powder that is oil-free and antioxidant rich with vitamin C and vitamin E, which helps your complexion look and feel better.  The powder also promises to leave you matte with a velvety-smooth finish.  What more could a girl ask for?  Well, a lot unfortunately.  I really, really, really wanted to fall in love with this powder, but as soon as I put it on the next day I knew I was going to have some issues.  And it’s all my fault really.  I’m the girl who usually asks one too many questions, but I was so love-sick with the idea of the powder that I didn’t really investigate what the powder actually did.

Going in, I knew I wanted a natural powder that wasn’t heavy and that was good for the skin.  I’m kind of over wearing makeup that makes you look like you’re wearing stage makeup.  Let’s face it, we all have imperfections.  But, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I do want some evenness and I like a powder that diminishes the redness in my skin.  Sadly for me, Korres Multivitamin powder just wasn’t going to cut it.  The salesperson at Sephora said that it would give me medium coverage, but honestly, this is the kind of powder you use to set foundation.  I would say that the powder is very light and without a lot of concealer you are left to expose your every flaw.  I tried putting on the powder with both the enclosed sponge and my kabuki brush and both gave me minimal coverage.  I also didn’t notice too much of a difference in the improvement of my skin, it pretty much stayed the same.  I will say that it does have a velvet texture and made my face really smooth, I also liked the natural scent and the color didn’t have an orange hue to it, something that is common with foundation powders.

Even though the powder was a bust as a foundation powder, I will say that I would recommend it to people who have really nice skin (lucky you) or to people looking for a setting powder.  You can’t get much better than Korres if you are looking for a eco-friendly cosmetic product.  My experience with this product won’t deter me away from trying out other products from the Korres line, in fact there were some lollipop colored gloss pots that I would love to get my hands on.  I will, however, do a little more investigation next time and make sure that I’m getting the coverage I need…Tarte, your still at the top of my list.

When I was a baby I had super blonde hair, when I was in elementary school I had blonde hair and by the time I entered high school I had dishwater blonde hair.  What color is my natural color now?  I have absolutely NO idea.

Once in high school I started highlighting my hair and by the time I was in college I started getting experimental with my hair color…I went from super blonde locks, to blonde with brown hair underneath and I even colored my hair very dark brown (which I absolutely hated).  It’s been a little over ten years since I started coloring my hair and I can honestly say that I don’t know what my natural hair color is.  Earlier this year I decided I wanted platinum blonde hair and I loved the color, but three months in and my dark roots started creeping up on me.  I would sit on my bathroom counter and stare at the color of my roots, trying to decipher what color was really coming out of my head.  It wasn’t quite dark enough to be brown and at the same time it wasn’t quite light enough to be blonde. 

By the time April hit my split ends were getting the best of me (thanks in part to my dye job) and I decided to get a trim.  I knew it was time to do something about my roots, but I wanted them to come in a little more so I could color my hair close to my natural color.  This idea ended after five minutes in the salon.  My hairdresser didn’t have to do much convincing that I needed to do something with my hair color and she said she could match my roots right then.  I was sold…until she started busting out super dark hair samples.  I told her I couldn’t believe that my hair was really that dark, but she assured me that it was.  My impulsive nature got the best of me and an hour later I walked out of the salon with super dark brown hair.  UGH!  I think I might have popped out a tear or two, but the color was semi-permanent and she promised that it would be out of my hair in two to three months.

I’m a little past month two now and I will say that my hair is still brown, several shades lighter than before, but still very much brunette.  I also realize that my stylist was totally wrong in her color selection because my roots are starting to pop out and they are very much a shade of blonde.  What shade it will turn out, I really don’t know, but what I do know is that I feel I work much better as a blonde.  It just fits me better on so many different levels.  When I look at old pictures, blonde is the color that I relate to.  When I see myself with brown hair I see myself as a stranger.  Even though my locks are brunette right now, I’d probably say my hair was blonde if someone asked me. 

I do, however, take solice in knowing that there are probably millions of girls out there like me who started off as a blonde child and then got caught up in the world of beauty and started accentuating their hair color to the point that they have no clue what shade truly lies under all that dye.  I’m still on a quest to find my true hue.  I plan on being patient, something that does not come easy for me, and wait for my brunette color to fade and then I will slowly let my roots grow out.  A task that will probably be painful for awhile, but I can’t wait to see the results!

*Are any of you having an identity crisis thanks to your hair color?  How many of you really know your true hue and how many of you are a little blonderexic?

You might be wondering why I’m writing a post about the Jon and Kate series and with all the hype about the show, who could blame me?  But, honestly this post has nothing to do with the show…not really anyways.  I’ve seen all of about one and a half episodes of the show and while it’s obvious that Kate is a ball buster and Jon is a bit of a wus I still can’t figure out why there is so much hype about how Kate Gosselin’s appearance has changed over the course of the show.

I think it’s funny how entertainment shows and magazines are going to great lengths to shell out information about Kate’s “makeover.”  How she gets manicures and pedicures, how she has highlights in her hair and a sassy new hair cut and how god forbid, she goes tanning TWICE a month, oh my!  I think it’s funny how a “regular” couple displayed on a “reality” TV show can’t look better than she/he once did, can’t buy nice clothes and can’t do certain upkeep things that some people would consider a normal expenditure.  Who cares if they got their teeth whitened professionally?  I did too when I was 18 and probably didn’t even need it (thanks mom and dad!) and who cares if Kate got a tummy tuck after having EIGHT kids? 

We see such celebrities as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie toting around a whole army of children and they are considered fine parents, all the while carrying a Balenciaga handbag and wearing Tory Burch ballet flats.  No one cares what they spend on themselves because they are a celebrity and that makes it okay.  Let’s not forget though that Jon and Kate aren’t your everyday couple.  They make between $50,000 and $75,000 per episode!  That’s more than most make in a year.  And please take a moment to look at Kate’s before and after picture.  She looks 10 years younger than she did before and while I think her hair is a little much in the back (can’t stand the spikes) I think she looks great and I don’t know one mother or one woman, for that instance, who wouldn’t want to look her absolute best.

If I were in their shoes, you better believe that I would get my nails done on a regular basis, my roots would never show and I would plan that trip to the day spa to boot…of course after essential needs were taken care of.  But, with that kind of cash rolling in I’m sure they are doing just fine.  So there you have it, my two cents on the subject of Kate’s makeover madness.

I used to be somewhat of a gloss addict, I still have several tubes of gloss hanging out in my bathroom and in my purse, but the frequency that I use them now is almost never.  I sometimes get the urge to buy a tube when I walk through beauty stores (glosses are one of the prettiest things to look at), but I have to remind myself of all the gloss that I have back home still waiting for me to use.

The truth is that gloss used to be one of my must-have products that I would take everywhere with me.  I felt naked without the stuff and I was always trying new brands and formulas.  But, somewhere between my Lancome Juicy Tubes and my NARS gloss, I realized that the “pretty” part of gloss only stayed on as long as I wasn’t eating, drinking, talking or pressing my lips together.  Then there were those unsightly gooey white clumps that start to form on the corner of your mouth and not to mention the stickiness that happens after about 30 minutes after application.  Before I knew it, I wasn’t wearing my gloss and I wasn’t buying any new tubes and all of the sudden lip balm had become my best friend.

I love my lip balm, but it just doesn’t give you that perfect pink pout that gloss or lipstick does.  So, when I heard about CoverGirl’s new Outlast Lipstain I was intrigued.  I had seen an ad for the stain in one of my magazines and Drew Barrymore was modeling a particular color called Everbloom Kiss that looked pretty, so I opted for that shade when I picked up the stain yesterday at my local grocery store (there were two other pinkish tones that I liked too).  The stain cost me all of $7.99, so if it was a bust, I wasn’t out much. 

 When I got home I went into the bathroom to apply it, I first made sure that my lips were dry and clean before I applied it.  The stain itself looks like a marker that a kid might draw with, it has a thick felt-like tip that made application very easy.  After I put the stain on I felt it was much darker than I had thought it would be.  The color was very dark and rich, almost like a bright berry color, but after about 30 minutes the color lightened and I was really liking the outcome.  From that moment I drank a smoothie, ate some berries and drank a glass of water (I have great timing, but it was a good test for the longevity).  I put the stain on a little before 4:00 pm and by 7:30 pm it was barely on.  All in all, I think that was a good amount of time and the fact that I went right into eating and drinking after applying it could have had something to do with it. 

I personally would buy another one of these stains again.  They are inexpensive, there are several really good colors (something you don’t always get) and I liked the fact that it wasn’t sticky, it faded well and I could wear my beloved lip balm over it.  Another plus is that the color reminded me of what a popsicle does to your lips and I can’t think of anything more perfect for the summer.

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary which just so happened to mark another milestone; two years since my husband had last had a professional hair cut…not joking.

This is not to say that he hasn’t had his hair cut in two years, quite the contrary actually.  He’s actually been cutting his own hair for the last two years to my disapproval.  We’ve been through two years of nicks on the back of his head, weird fading, short spots, military buzz cuts, grown out frizzy ends and not to mention a hair collection on our bathroom floor that I can’t seem to completely terminate.  You might ask yourself why he doesn’t just get it professionally done and save himself the effort and by asking this question you would be making a valid point.  But, Scotty would tell you that it’s not worth the money and that he’s saving $40 a cut.  Okaaaaay.

For the last two years I have bit my tongue, but the other day I finally suggested going to get a hair cut by a professional.  I told him that it wasn’t really necessary to go to a hoity toity salon since his choice of hair cut is quite simple, so I suggested a place like Super Cuts, Sports Clips (he doesn’t watch sports…another reason to love him!) or even the well-loved Great Clips.  And you know what?  He caved!  I promised him that if he didn’t like how it turned out and if he thought he could do better, then he would never have to get a professional cut again and he could go back to cutting his own hair in our bathroom.  We had a deal. 

So, tonight we walked (it’s literally walking distance from our house) over to a place called Smart Cuts and in less than two minutes he was in a chair and I was giving instructions to the lady…”not to short on top, keep the sides clean, no buzz cuts, he doesn’t wear product…”.  You get the idea.  A few sweeps of the razor and a few clips with the scissors and a few awkward glances from Scotty later and all of the sudden we had a whole new look for the bargain price of $14.95; shampoo would have cost $3.95 extra (we’re trying to save here!) and if we would have come in tomorrow it would have been “Men’s Day” and the cut would have only cost $12.95 (put that in my pocket for next time).

As soon as we walked out and Scotty started running his hands through his hair I knew that I had got him.  He was loving his new cut and already admitting how much better it looked.  He even stopped to check himself out in the mirror when we walked in the front door.  That was enough reason for me to snap a few pictures of him and put him on my blog for the world to see…after all, it’s been a while :).