Trust Me, I'm a...

I have a good friend who is going on her third year as an OB/GYN resident.  In case you haven't been watching "16 and Pregnant" or "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" or any other baby shows, you know that babies aren't usually born when it is convenient for the doctor.  This means lots of late nights and little sleep for the residents who deliver them.

On a rare day off for her, we sat at her pool and she revealed that she was simply desperate for something to cover the dark circles that residency hath wrought.

Now, I can't give advice on how to deliver a breech baby or how to improve bedside manner, but under-eye circles?  Come into my office and sit down!

First, I told her, you need a good concealer.  Now, I have always heard nothing but praise for the Cle de Peau product, but at $65 a tube, a little out of a GME-funded budget and there are lots of options that won't require moonlighting.  

My current favorite is MAC Select Moisturecover and I like that MAC has several coverage options and lots of colors.  Another good brand with options is Clinique, and I went through a Quick Corrector phase that lasted through law school.

The next option is a brightener, to lighten up the area under the eye and distract from the darkness.  Now, every makeup artist worth her brushes will tell you that the best product for this is the YSL Touche Eclat.  I love that it comes with a brush attached for easy application (perhaps in a call room?).  

Another, less expensive option, is Bobbi Brown's Corrector.  Functioning on the same principles of color correcting, it neutralizes the dark circles and works with concealer to make it look like you've gotten more than an hour of sleep.  (P.S. check out Bobbi's newly resigned website and Twitter feed!)

And my last tip and for faking a well rested look?  Since I'm guessing a change of profession isn't an option...a bright cheery blush and a clean application of black mascara.

But don't call me in the morning, I need my beauty sleep.

The L Word

That's right.

Lipstick.

Specifically, which one to wear to my wedding.

There are a lot of things to consider at this point. First of all, I'm usually a gloss girl. I like 'em sheer and shiny. However, I can't say that my future husband is going to look great in pictures wiping a bunch of goo off his mouth the second after the big kiss.

Second, there is the photo factor. I know that shiny can play poorly in photographs and I don't want my lips to be so pale during the wedding that I look washed out in the pictures.

Third, and most importantly, I want to look like me. Not some fantasy version of me where I can pull off a bright crimson mouth like Katherine Heigl at the Oscars, but me me. The girl who wears pink lipglosses like they are going out of style.

So, when the makeup artist gave me a really dark mouth at my trial, the hunt was on for a better alternative.

I searched high and low, looking for the right combination of sheer and rosy to make my mouth look like mine, but better.

A bunch of first attempts at Bergdorf's with my sister failed miserably, although she picked up a few items. I was given corals which made me want to yak and the same deep fuchsia color that the artist gave me.

A few weeks later, I stopped into the Space NK in Scarsdale before the catering tasting (yeah, that's right, my caterer is from Scarsdale. And she is AWESOME. If you want a rec, email me) and tried out a few. I liked a By Terry lipgloss, but the $55 price tag made me cringe a little. I'm kind of absurd when it comes to spending for makeup, but that crosses the line for me.

Next up, the salesperson recommended Talitha lip gloss by NARS.

It's a nice rosy color, deeper than what I'm used to, but my fiance said it didn't look gooey. I believe his actual words were, It wouldn't be terrible to kiss you with that on. True love, people. True love.

But I had my doubts.

So I dragged out every lipgloss hidden in purses around my apartment and started trying on. The winner? Bobbi Brown lipgloss in Hot Pink. Which isn't actually hot pink.

But the gloss factor bothered me. A stop into Blue Mercury revealed that the lip gloss, layered with the Creamy Lipstick in Pink Ballet was a nice combo.

But then again...there is always Black Honey by Clinique.

So, basically, I'm nowhere right now on this. My final dress fitting is today, and I'm planning on bringing the arsenal with me and trying them on while the hemming is done.

I'll let you know...

Buried Treasure

If you are like me, you probably have a box on your dresser containing about thirty-five makeup products that you haven't used in the past three months. I totally get seduced by the new and exciting and often leave the older products to rot in my little bamboo box. But every once in a while, when I go digging in there, I come up with some stuff that quickly becomes my new favorites.

A small caveat here. I really try to stick to products that don't expire often, like blushes and eyeshadows. I had a bad experience with a lipgloss that spent a DC summer on the floormat of my car. Let's just say high dose corticosteroids were involved.

Last weekend, I went to a party sans boyfriend, which allowed me to pull out the clothes he hates, like my eyelet trapeze top over pants, which he claims makes me look pregnant. He also said it therefore freaks people out to see me drinking in this top. So, I started digging and came up with my old Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow in Sterling, a sparkly slate grey.

like this, but grey.

I loved the effect. It goes on very sheerly, so I am less concerned that I will end up looking like that astronaut's mug shot, but with layering it makes for an excellent nighttime eye.

But something was missing....So it was into the breech once more!

I unearthed a Bourjois shadow I snapped up in Paris a few years ago which is a sheer green color with just a touch of blue undertone and gold shimmer.

sort of a cross between these two.

I dusted a little green over the grey and voila! A perfect new evening look. Edgy. Sexy. And totally new and exciting.



So, in this time of desperate cold, instead of heading out to stores to pick up something new, I encourage everyone to spend some time going through your own box o' the makeup past and experiment!


photos courtesy of neimanmarcus.com and sephora.com.