The year was 1999… I’d finished school and moved back in with my parental units while I looked for a job and tried to unwind.

My BFF/dancing buddy J. Money and I were also deep in our clubbing phase. I’ll never forget — it was the same thing every time we’d go out. One of our Filipino parents would ask, “Are you girls going to the disco?”

LOL!

Or, “Are you going disco-disco?”

Hearing parental units refer to “the club” as a disco… That’s just so funny. It always cracked us up.

Still, there are times when “disco” just feels like the better word, ya know? — like when it comes to Lippmann Collection’s Happy Birthday ($18), the newest addition to their permanent nail polish line.

This stuff’s so blinged out and sparkly that it would be a shame not to wear it to “the disco,” ha!

It’s all about taking glitter to the next level, with bits in a plethora of shapes, colors and sizes — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and silver.

For a full-on, eyes-rolling-to-the-back-of-the-head glitter-gasm, try three coats.

Three coats!

Two coats — when you’re in the mood for quieter glitter

So far I’ve only worn Happy Birthday by itself, but I’m guessing it would look extra festive layered beneath a polish in solid black or red.

Continue Reading…

Girldom Rule #3,654: Within any given group, there’s always at least one girl with an obscenely large bottle of hand sanitizer in her purse.

Homies, I’m one of those girls (bit of a freakshow when it comes to germs).

And if we were chatting over coffee, I’d be baptizing you in Burt’s Bees Aloe & Witch Hazel Hand Sanitizer ($5).

I blame it on the countless hours I’ve spent people watching. The fingers picking noses and cleaning ears, teeth and, OMIGOD, butts! — I done seen it all.

Purell used to be my standby, but Burt’s stole me away. I think the liquid spray absorbs faster than Purell’s gel does, and it doesn’t leave a film.

My nose feels Burt’s also beats Purell in the scent department. It smells like fresh cut lemons to Purell’s overpowering vodka.

Continue Reading…

No joke, $31 DiorSkin Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer is expensive, but daaaaym, it works miracles on my Frankensteiny dark circles.

It’s a liquid concealer that’s been part of Dior’s product lineup for a while now and comes in three shades (see colors below; Ivory 001, Beige 002 and Honey 003), each one packaged in a convenient easy-to-carry tube with a doe-foot applicator.

Texture-wise, Dior Sculpt feels slightly thicker and less runny than other liquid concealers I’ve tried — airy, like it’s been whipped.

Not only does it cover my dark circles and skin imperfections, but Dior claims it also minimizes fine lines via something they call “new generation powders.” They also say it improves skin tone with “A-Resist complex.” Hmm…

So what’s up with all the fancy talk?

I’ve been using it in Honey for about a week so far and haven’t really seen any difference in lift and tone, but as far as dark circles are concerned, Sculpt does appear to do two things way better than other concealers I’ve tried.

Applies easily and doesn’t settle into fine lines

After a few hours of wear, concealers usually settle into the fine lines beneath my eyes, but Sculpt doesn’t. It looks natural, like I’m not wearing any product at all, and stays that way all day long.

And it builds and blends like a breeze. Using the wand, I dot concealer directly beneath my eyes and blend with my fingers or a foundation brush. Badabing, badabang! Liberation from dark circles in less than a minute.

Testing 1-2-3

Sculpt proved her worthiness to me last week on my trip to Vegas. I didn’t get much sleep, so my dark circles were in full effect.

Continue Reading…

The first time I gave it a try, it took me a good five minutes in front of the mirror to build up the courage to raise Sephora’s Professional Platinum Lash & Eyebrow Comb ($10) to my eyes.

I kept imagining myself scratching an eyeball with its pointy metal teeth. Compared to the cheap plastic drugstore lash combs I’ve always used, this metal monster looked downright frightening!

But after breaking three of the plastic ones so far this year, I was fed up and ready to try something new.

Having heard nothing but good things about metal lash combs, I took a few deep breaths, made the sign of the cross and went for it.

“Go towards the light, Carol Anne! Towards the light!!”

As luck would have it, all my fears were for naught. Sephora’s metal monster isn’t frightening at all.

Continue Reading…

I’d been missing Tabs something terrible even BEFORE I saw Stila’s new Smudge Pot in Kitten ($20) at Sephora the other day…

It’s a shimmery cream shadow that doubles as a liner — the cream version of Stila’s cult classic powder eyeshadow in Kitten.

Pale pinks like this really perk up my eyes when I look tired (read: often), and this one applies and builds easily. I use my finger to pat it on my lids, where it stays put for hours.

Stila Kitten swatch with flash

Stila Kitten swatch without flash

I like it for quick and casual day looks. I’ll usually wear it as a wash over the lids, with black liner smudged along the upper lash line.

Continue Reading…