I know I wrote about the Lumene Moisturizing Mask not too long ago, but it deserves another shout out for working a miracle on my skin this week.

I came back from LA earlier this week with seriously dehydrated skin. My skin was flaky and had started breaking out. Last night, I pulled out the moisturizing mask and saw a significant improvement this morning. I think a few more days of using the product will get my skin back to normal.

Tell me what are your miracle beauty products?

Having been very pleased with other Lumene products I’ve tried, I went out and purchased this moisturizing mask a couple months ago. I’ve been testing the product for a while now, and am happy to report that my skin is loving it.

I use it once or twice a week as a ten-minute mask after I wash my face. Sometimes I’ll apply the mask prior to a shower so that the hot water can open up my pores to let the moisture really penetrate. The product is fragrance free (great for sensitive skin), and leaves a pleasant chill on my skin as it does its magic.

According to the package, the product contains “pure, arctic spring water and bio-calming oil.” I really gotta chuckle at this because you want to know what the second listed ingredient is, after water? Canola oil.

This is not a knock against canola oil. I actually think canola oil is seriously underrated as a skincare ingredient. But it’s just interesting the difference between marketing and the reality.

That said, I really thought this product was great for my dry skin, and would definitely buy it again.

Now here’s a Valentine’s Day treat to get excited about! All of this is yours free with a minimum $28.50 purchase at the Macy’s Lancome counter.

I’m a big believer in only buying makeup counter products (i.e. Estee Lauder, Clinique, Lancome, etc.) when there is a free gift involved. After all, the cost of those free gifts are probably being billed into the regular products that you’re buying, so why not get what you’re paying for?

The gift items are a collection of Lancome’s best sellers: Tresor perfume, Definicils mascara, Bi-Facil, Renergie Microlift R.A.R.E. face and eye cream, Color Design eye shadow quad and lipstick.

The Definicils mascara is definitely a reason to get this set. I’ve yet to find such a good all-around mascara (and trust me, I’ve been trying).

The Bi-Facil, on the other hand, seems to have lots of devoted fans, but I don’t get the hype. It’s a little too oily for my taste. I’d much prefer to go with The Body Shop on eye makeup remover.

Offer ends February 24.  Happy Valentine’s Day my lovelies!

…is for an extra face.

Right now, I’m testing out Chanel Sublimage Cream at the strong recommendation of my beauty blogger friend Julia, and Lumene’s Hydra Tender Soothing and Moisturizing Mask. I’ve got a gajillion other skincare products I want to test as well, but these products require a minimum of 6 weeks use before you can really determine how they work. I’m in total battle mode against my dry skin, so it’s frustrating that I’m crawling along at snail’s pace.

Plus, it would be great to have a back-up face for days like today when I have two huge pimples on my jawline that I keep fiddling with. Tonight, I am slathering on my trusty green gunk, big time.

What is your beauty wish?

I’d like to say a resounding ‘Amen!’ to Point #5 in this Real Simple article that I found online: How to Correct 8 Common Beauty Mistakes.

The problem with forgetting your neck in your skincare routine is that it’s going to come back and bite you in the butt when you’re in your 40s and beyond.

Case in point: take The Real Housewives of Orange County (to which I am ridiculously addicted). They almost fool you with the Botox, until you look at 1) their necks and 2) their hands.

Somewhere in the last few years or so, my skin suddenly went from oily to dry. The transformation took me by surprise, and in its wake, left me feeling a bit morose. Not that I miss having oily skin per se, but I miss the associations that come with oily skin — acne, teenage angst, insecurity (not that I miss those things either). But what I’m talking about are all those benchmarks of youth. As I creep towards 30, it’s just one more sign that my younger years are slipping away from me.

So I’m getting old and my skin is starting to shrivel up. What is my solution then? Lumene. It’s available at CVS, and marks one of the first beauty products I’ve purchased in a long time. Not having worked on my beauty blog in a while means that the freebies start drying up and — horrors of horrors — I actually have to pay for products out of my own pocket!

Well, I’m glad to have taken the chance on Lumene. Their Sensitive Tender Drops facial moisturizers are absolutely out of this world. I use the Soothing Moisture Cream for day, and the Soothing Night Cream before bed. They are heavy and thick (just the way my dry, old skin likes it), and leave my skin hydrated and feeling like velvet.

The products are 100% fragrance and colorant free (great for my delicate skin). They feature Scandinavian linseed and canola oil, a trademarked bio-calming compound and natural antioxidants. In addition, the formula helps to reduce redness.

Overall, a huge thumbs up on these products. Lumene: my thirsty skin bows before you in thanks.

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.

I’m 27 and not one to be moaning about lines or wrinkles yet, but I do believe in prevention.

That’s why I recommend, ladies, that you high tail it to your local Boots retailer (CVS carries a great selection, as does Target) and pick up a tube of Boots No7 Restore and Renew Beauty Serum ($21.99).

There’s been one helluva hullabaloo over the product in the UK thanks to a fortuitously timed BBC documentary. While I lean on the skeptical side of things, I find it hard to argue with scientists who say that it’s the one over-the-counter anti aging product that works just as well as the leading Tretinoin.

While I can’t say anything about what it does to wrinkles (since I don’t have any), I can say that it improved my skin clarity, and I noticed smoother, healthier skin after testing it out these past 6 weeks.

Plus, if it’s gentle enough not to irritate my overly sensitive skin, then it’s a keeper in my cabinet!

So my spa trip on Sunday was not quite the mecca of relaxation that I had hoped it would be. I knew, going in, that my skin wasn’t doing that well. But you know how you go into every facial with a certain amount of optimism. Like, hey it can’t be that bad, right? …right? And then the facialist squeezes the heck out of your pores and you know that things are bad. They are very bad.

Anyhow, I swore to myself as I left the spa, that I would take some serious measures. 1 — increase my water intake. 2 — stop eating so many darn brownies. 3 — pull out the nasty green stuff that my husband hates so much.

The nasty green stuff is more politely known as Azulen Paste, but my husband has given it said moniker as an expression of his extreme distaste for it. I honestly don’t know why he thinks it’s so bad, but he’s convinced it smells like pureed roadkill and has even claimed that the continued use of it will be the ruin of our marriage.

Hmm…clear skin or marital bliss? Sadly enough, it’s kind of a hard choice for me to make.

Before you make a rash judgment about my character, think of that age-old question. Would you rather be perpetually 10 pounds overweight and get a million dollars? Or be a skinny mini? Not an easy choice to make, right? And no, you can’t take the million bucks and hire yourself a trainer…imagine that those 10 extra pounds are here to stay.

But really, I kid. I have in the past gladly sacrificed the nasty green stuff for the sake of my marriage. But these are desperate times, folks. So for the sake of our marriage — because marriage is a two-way street — my husband has laid aside his loathing of the NGS and let me apply at will.

Now that, I tell ya, is true love.

I happened to pick up a copy of the September issue of Consumer Reports for the first time ever, and had a read-through. Talk about brutal!! I LOVE IT!

Free from the shackles of advertising (except for a few tiny ads from small companies), the journalists are at liberty to rip into America’s consumer goods. Or give them credit if it’s due.

I stumbled upon an article on facial cleansers that I thought you’d all be interested in — what’s hot, what’s not. What I liked about their rating system was that it was based on a blind test of each product. This is crucial as we as consumers are often subject to the effects of advertising and PR without even consciously realizing it.

Want to know what the results were?

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