Can we take a vote here? How many of you want to know what’s in your beauty products? How many of you don’t care?

As a person who has always had delicate/sensitive skin, being able to read labels and knowing what is in my beauty products is absolutely essential. And since I am an amateur soapmaker, I understand what ingredients are quality and which ones are cheap fillers, etc. The ingredient list is how I’m able to cut through marketing b.s. to get to the truth of the matter. Is the product going to be what it promises to be. Is it worth the price, or am I just paying for fancy packaging.

One of my big pet peeve is online retailers who don’t list product ingredients! Not listing the ingredients on your website is often the difference between a sale and no sale, so just do it!

Some websites that do list product ingredients, and who I frequent, are Sephora.com, Beauty.com and Drugstore.com.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Ok, I know there is no excuse for my total lack of posting the past some months. But life sort of bit me from behind, plus my laptop crashed, plus I forgot my Wordpress log-in info, etc. etc. Anyway, my apologies to all of my faithful readers, and thanks to everyone who sent emails or asked about me.

I will try to get back into the groove of posting once again. Stay tuned for more!

In the meantime, feel free to surf over to my other blog about my adorable, lovable shih tzu mix, Oscar.

Not to *gasp* deviate too much from beauty, but my new favorite blogger, The Sartorialist, wrote something incredibly insightful in his post on Tuesday, that I’ve been chewing over in my head. He was writing in regards to a chance meeting with a girl, Kara, who he’d encountered on the streets of NYC a year ago, and how her style had evolved so dramatically (for the better). He wrote:

Actually the line that I think was the most telling but that she said like a throw-away qualifier was “I didn’t know anyone in New York when I moved here….”

I think that is such a huge factor. To move to a city where you are not afraid to try something new because all the people that labeled who THEY think you are (parents, childhood friends) are not their to say ” that’s not you” or “you’ve changed”. Well, maybe that person didn’t change but finally became who they really are. I totally relate to this as a fellow Midwesterner even though my changes were not as quick or as dramatic.

I bet if you ask most people what keeps them from being who they really want to be (at least stylistically or maybe even more), the answer would not be money but the fear of peer pressure - fear of embarrassing themselves in front of a group of people that they might not actually even like anyway.

If you were really honest with yourself and really wanted to change your style what is keeping you from doing that? Is it really the cost? Is it really your psychical shape? availability of goods? Or is it not fitting in at your office, or PTA, or skateboard park?

We can apply this same concept to beauty, yes. (What exactly is keeping you from being the rosy-eyelidded girl that you were destined to be?) But we can apply it also, as he said, to life in general.

There was this poem that my college writing teacher pulled out for us the first day of class that has always stuck with me, and become my unofficial mantra. By my prof’s own admission, it’s not a great poem except for the redeeming last few lines:

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver, The Summer Day

Life is too short for regrets. It’s too short to not be doing what you want to be doing.

Time for me to step in and be a work killer!

I’ve been totally obsessed lately with The Sartorialist. Fashion blogging at its best!

Secondly, I started a little blog devoted to my favorite little man: The Amazing Adventures of Oscarman.

Enjoy!!

My skin has finally hit the pretty period, as I like to call it. Right after a facial, there’s always that awkward period where your skin is red and irritated from all the poking and prodding. But then it mellows out, and you’re finally reaping the rewards. Doesn’t hurt either that I’m drinking water like a mofo.

You know, my husband once heard on some science radio program that drinking water is a much better way to hydrate yourself than drinking any other fluids (juices, coffee, tea, etc.). So basically, disregard those quacks who tell you any liquid will do - drink water!

My husband is always full of random facts like these. All sorts of topics, no matter how hither or thither, he’s got some factoid about it. Sometimes I wonder if he’s just making things up. Yet he says it with such authority. Confidence, people. It’s all about the confidence. Plus, he’s an avid reader. (Tehe.)

Now that the weather is cooling down, I’m starting to actually want to wear makeup. Not too long ago, I read Jean Godfrey-June’s book, Free Gift With Purchase. For those of you not in the know, Ms. Godfrey-June is Beauty Director at Lucky. And she claims in her book that beauty editors, surprisingly enough, don’t wear makeup. Or they wear makeup so as to look as though they’re not wearing makeup. I, my friends, fall into that category.

But with the impending cool weather, and the decreasing threat of melty makeup face, I’m starting to feel cosmetically adventurous. First on the list? Teal eyeliner! This month’s Glamour tells all about the trend, and I for one, am all ’bout it. Very similar to last year’s trend of the black and blue liner.

This is our dog, Oscar, three months ago, when we first picked him up from the animal shelter:

And look at him now.

I’m always asking him, “Hey mister, where did you get your good looks from?”

But he has yet to spill his beauty secrets.

EDIT: Read all about his adventures at his new blog: The Amazing Adventures of Oscarman!

Two days until total relaxation. Baby’s going in for a facial (much needed), a mani and a pedi, courtesy of my wonderful boss.

My skin’s been breaking out more than usual…probably an overdose of brownies. And yes, they say that chocolate shouldn’t make you break out, but I don’t care what they say, it makes me break out! Why do you think it’s such a persistent “myth” if there’s no grain of truth to it? Maybe The Beauty Brains can jump in here and enlighten us either way.

Anyhoo, I’ve been trying to keep the makeup to a minimum except for my Bobbi Brown Blemish Cover Stick. Seriously, do you ever wonder what you would do if concealer had never been invented? Also, do you ever feel bad for boys who aren’t “allowed” to wear makeup? There have been a number of times when I’ve tried to persuade my husband to let me dab a little on his pimples.

“Seriously, honey, who’s going to even know?”

But you’d have thought I was trying to chemically poison him via his pores. And well, if he can remain happy and upbeat despite a few red spots, who am I to argue? Shouldn’t we all have that sort of confidence?

Speaking of confidence, my husband has been stealing my Philosophy 3-in-1 Shower Gel in Pure Grace! (Oops, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to have told you all that, so don’t tell him I told you!!)

I find it hilarious that he likes it so much. We were driving to church this past Sunday, and he told me to take a sniff of his arm. Then this enraptured look came over his face, and he became as verbose as he has ever been (and may ever be) about a beauty product.

“It smells so…so…,” and then he paused searching for the right word. Then it came to him. “It just smells so…good!“

Glad you like it, honey.

Anyway, have a great weekend ladies! I hope you find that beauty product that makes you feel equally as — in-italics — good.

Ok, I totally failed this quiz on CNN.

Well, nearly failed. I got 7 out of 8 of them wrong.

But the point is, despite my total ineptitude at guessing age, I’m glad to know that people are staying youthful, happy and healthy the good ol’ fashioned way rather than via Botox and face lifts.

This especially resonated with me after reading the article in September’s Glamour entitled “What Will You Look Like in 20 Years?” (pg. 194). It totally freaked the bejesus out of me, because these beautiful young women looked pretty terrible after just 20 years of their bad habits — many of which I recognized in myself! Definitely lights the fire under my ass.

I’m in Vegas now for work…my first time in the city. And let me tell you that I have seen more short shorts, fake boobs and spinning lights than I need ever see in a lifetime. What a spectacle!

And if you think I’m posting this at 8am EST, you’s crazy. It is now Monday night/morning, 1am in Vegas (early by Vegas standards) and 4am in New York (very late by old fogie me standards). I’m auto-posting!!

I swear, these late nights are making me nervous - I’m just waiting for a big eruption of pimples. I’ve been using my Boots No7 Beauty Serum religiously, in the hopes that it will help my skin cope. (And also, I promised I’d test it out for you guys.) Plus, I’ve been using Sothys Immuniscience Cream, which is heavier than my normal moisturizer - in the hopes that it has been countering any dehydration due to traveling, working and drinking.

Any tips to help you keep your usual glow while on the road would be much appreciated!!

I know we’re all supposed to be pointing and laughing at Claire Dane’s nip slip on MTV Canada. But I can’t help noticing her stunning makeup and highlights. She looks absolutely fantastic, doesn’t she?

I still remember her from My So Called Life. She had the big nose and the too-large facial features that sort of seemed to crowd her face. But Ms. Danes has really grown into herself, hasn’t she?

It makes me not so scared of growing older - reflecting now, just two days away from my 27th birthday. If you look at a lot of celebrities, they seem to get better with age, and especially once they cross from their 20s into their 30s. They lose the baby fat on their face, their face and bodies get this tauter definition, and they start looking more comfortable in their own skin.

What I think it is, is that they just start feeling wiser and more confident and less afraid to say no, or to stand up for what they want and what they believe in. And that in turn reflects on their outward appearance.

Photo courtesy of Egotastic.com.