Daily BGND - Giveaway!!

Did you guys get this morning's Daily Candy? Not only are they recommending my go-to travel essential (the cleanser towelette) they are having a fab giveaway! Partnering with Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes they are offering some great travel essential gifts as prizes. Plus, you can print out a $1.50 coupon even if you don't win.

Now usually I use the Garnier cleansing towelettes but for $1.50 off I will definitely be trying the Ponds wipes.

Click here for all the info on the giveaway - good luck!

Keep looking fabulous,
BGND

Budget Swap

As all you BGNDers know- I love me some face scrub. I consider it to be one of the best ways to not only keep your skin healthy, but to make it glow with less lines and younger texture all around. Well today, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of a scrub that I have heard loads about.

Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub - $7.49 (Drugstores nationwide)
This scrub is fantastic. Not only does it smell wonderful, it has the small microbeads that are so hard to find in the less expensive scrubs. I found this scrub to be more runny than my favorite Clinique scrub but to have the same essentials- tiny, tiny microbeads that polished my skin just enough. A great exfoliator but definitely gentle enough for everyday use.

I would highly recommend this product to anyone who loves the Clinique scrub (like I do) but needs something for less money (who doesn't) and is sick of the St. Ives (who isn't). St. Ives makes a great product but sometimes you just want something new.

Go get this- totally worth the money!

Have a great Monday and keep looking fabulous!
BGND

Disappointment of the week - July 16th, 2009

I have a sad review to deliver today. I was pretty excited to try this product being as how I loooove mascara. And while I can't give this lash beautifier a perfect score by any stretch of the imagination- it is not all bad. Which is why I am still reviewing it today but calling it my disappointment as opposed to my product of the week.

Revlon Double Twist MascaraLet's start with the good of this mascara. The formula is actually excellent. Seriously defines, lengthens, thickens...all the things you want a mascara to do. It is actually one of the best formulas I have ever used. It doesn't flake or smear and it can easily be layered for a more dramatic effect. If I was simply reviewing the product inside the tube - this mascara would be an A+.

Now for the bad news...the brush is HORRIFIC. I know that is what they were going for when designing and marketing this product but the brush is the downfall of this Revlon item. First off, it is huge. You can barely get it through the opening in the tube. And the combo of the thickening brush and the silicon separators just creates a clumpy mess. When you pull the brush out of the tube the top half of the brush is cleanly covered with mascara while the bottom half looks like you spread the mascara on the bristles with a thick Spackle. It is BAD.

The only way I have managed to still be able to use this mascara is to clean off the bottom bristles with a tissue when I pull the brush out and then try to focus the application with the upper bristles. You waste a ton of product when doing this so sadly I am not expecting this tube to last very long.

So if you have a coupon for this mascara and you need one....I say go ahead and buy it. Or perhaps if you don't care about the brush- the formula is still worth a try. But really- it is just a big fat disappointment.

Keep looking fabulous!
BGND

Bad Bad Blogger

Sorry folks!! I know I have been totally MIA recently...I am getting married and was out of town doing wedding madness!!

However, I am back and ready to blog! Today's fun tidbit:

Benefit's Summer Sale-Abration!



Benefit is having a HUGE sale right now! 50% off a giant selection of Benefit Cosmetics products and major discounts on countless others - totally worth a look. Plus, with every $35 order you get a FULL SIZE California Kissin AND if you enter PRETTY50 at checkout you get free shipping on orders over $50.
Now that IS a Sale-abration!

Happy Shopping!

Keep

Spring Break lives again!

So do any of you folks out there have some old shot glasses gathering dust?
Perhaps they say something like "Cancun Spring Break 1999"?
It's going to be okay, I promise. You are not alone in your shame.

Now there is a legitimate use for that sad little relic of your college binge drinking past....(Not that shots are off limits now - they are just served the right way now- hidden as martinis- ha!)....

Drum roll please.....
Sunscreen serving utensil!! That's right ladies and gents. As I am sure you have read, you should use at least a full shot glass full of sunscreen to cover your body when heading out into those UVBs and UVAs. And recently I read a fabulous tip about actually using a shot glass to portion out your sunscreen...not just guesstimating a "shot glass amount" as most of us have been told to do. But literally keeping a shot glass in your bathroom next to your tube of sunscreen. And when it's time to protect that lovely skin - fill up that shot glass and go to town.

So now, not only are you guaranteed to be protecting yourself in the right way with SPF, you FINALLY have an excuse not to throw out your old mementos - no matter what your boyfriend or wife might say....

Keep looking fabulous!
BGND