“Like sands through the hourglass, so are the ________________.”

There’s a new kid in town, and she’s a regular child prodigy — an Hourglass Prodigy, to be exact.

Prodigy, a new line of pocket-friendly lip glosses from luxury brand Hourglass, slides into Sephora stores later this month (Feb. 18), and small clutches everywhere are going wild!

But seriously, the six slick glosses cost $26 apiece, so they aren’t as cheap as their diminutive size might lead one to believe.

Still, their flat tubes seem kinda cool, don’t they? They’re designed to fit snugly into tight spaces like pockets or a tiny clutch.

I love it when companies push (or in this case squish) the envelope when it comes to design.

The top snaps off (took me a minute to figure it out) to reveal the angled applicator tip, and squeezing the body of the tube dispenses the product.

I just wish I could get Hourglass to tweak one thing…

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Bargain hunting brush fanatics, lend me your ear. A $12 brush swept me off my feet today, and they call it the Ecotools Bamboo Bronzer Brush.

Compared to department store brushes costing $20 and up, it’s a bargain superhero — affordable, with dense, super-soft bristles that deposit just the right amount of color on my skin.

Not only that, but it’s quite the multitasker, too, moonlighting as a face powder/blush brush. All told, it’s like getting three brushes for the price of one.

WARNING: The following videos featuring Ecotools brushes (my favorite’s the cat eye tutorial) are like potato chips… You can’t stop after just one.

• Create a cunning cat eye
• Flawless face tips
• Get sultry smoky eyes
• Day-to-night makeup 101

If your brushes take a beating like mine do, you’ll appreciate how solid the bamboo handle feels in your hand. Really, the brush feels sturdy from head to handle; even the synthetic taklon bristles feel tough. I’ve washed the brush head several times already, and the bristles haven’t shed one iota.

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Have you noticed anything weird about mascara brushes lately? It’s like they’re getting all funky cold medina! Last year it was motorized brush heads; before that, spiked medieval flails (Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes).

Now even Clinique is throwing their hat into the ring with a different spin on the standard brush design. High Lengths Mascara ($14) flaunts a minimalist, almost alien bow.

Maybe I’ve been watching too much sci-fi lately (a VERY safe bet), but those rows of short, stubby teeth aren’t giving me warm and fuzzy feelings — that’s for sure.

When I touched the brush for the first time (expecting certain doom!), it flexed and bent like Gumby’s yoga master, LOL! I really had no idea how it would perform on human lashes.

Buck nekkid lashes!

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After using The Balm’s Time Balm Concealer for about a month, I gotta say — this stuff is totally legit (too legit to quit, even!).

It’s already replaced Dior Sculpt as my Numero Uno concealer love, making it worthy of a celebratory head bang (insert flying hair, rocking head and sign of the beast [HERE]).

Oh, Time Balm, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

First, price, which at $18 is $13 less than a tube of Dior Sculpt. Sure, neither one is drugstore-level affordable, but $18 sounds a lot better than $31 (and that extra $13 could go toward a tube of something wonderful like MAC Nymphette… I’m just sayin’.)

Time Balm Concealer in Medium

Yet price isn’t even the main reason I heart this tamer of dark circles so much. Quality is. In just about every way, I give Time Balm the edge over Dior Sculpt.

Time Balm: The Deets

Available in six shades from light to medium-dark (find them at Sephora), this cream concealer comes in a wee pot with a screw-on top and an applicator sponge. SIDE NOTE: I actually ditched the sponge, finding it a little too small for me and difficult to use. I prefer to apply and buff it with a foundation brush.

One issue I often have with concealers is how many will settle into my fine lines and look obvious after a few hours of wear. I’ve struggled to find ones that appear to blend into my skin, as opposed to sitting directly on top of it.

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DANG that Josie Maran! Whoever handles the packaging of this eco-friendly line deserves a Prius, a wheatgrass shot and a pat on the back.

A quick glance today at the Monarch flutterbyes on her new Natural Wonder Powder Palette ($35) was all it took to put a spring in my step.

Talk about practical, environmentally conscious design (also friendly and feminine) that *hella* works!

It gets even better when you open the palette. BOOM! It holds five eyeshadows, two blushes and a bronzer in a mix of neutrals and brights. I’ve seen a few spring makeup releases so far, and this one’s been one of the most exciting to me so far.

The eyeshadows, blushes and bronzer in the Natural Wonder palette are infused with Argan oil, an antioxidant-rich oil from Morocco known to calm and soothe troubled skin. And, like all Josie Maran makeup, the palette’s free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and phthalates.

First, there’s the variety. The shades feel fresh and youthful, and I can easily see myself doing looks with them from subtle/sweet to bold/bright.

Then, there’s the shadows, about which I noted a few things (DROOL!)…

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