Anew By Avon and A Few Tricks of the Trade That I'll Soon Be Trying

Hello gorgeous! This evening I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I returned to my big pile of Avon products and decided to pamper myself with the Anew Ultimate series.

First up was Avon Keep It Clean Multi-Vitamin Cleanser. Fabulous product without any exfoliant and really without any foam. However, it smelled fresh and clean and did a great job removing all of the day on my skin. Next was Avon Anew Ultimate Mask. This was absolutely lovely. It turned a very odd purply, orangey, golden, white glimmer color and, after its 10 minutes and lukewarm water removal, my skin had a very healthy glow and shine that was not oil, but actual beauty! Third was Avon Anew Eye Cream. This also smelled lovely, with a hint of coconut (could have been that I was eating crumb donettes and that is where the coconut came from), but it wasn't as thick as I originally thought it would be.

Lastly was Avon Anew Cream. This was surprisingly thick, but instantly soaked into my skin. I'm not sure that's what I want in a night cream, but I definitely liked not feeling oily for a change at night. Sometimes, I just really like Avon products. They aren't pricey and they remind me of my mom. Mary Kay and Estee Lauder products do that too, but there's just something about the life of Avon that is appealing... not to mention the fact that I have hundreds of Avon samples and their masks are really great.

Broken Powder Compact:

While waiting for my mask to dry, I came upon a fun article about odd beauty tricks. There are a few I intend to try. One I did instantly because it just so happens that I tend to drop my compacts all of the time and break the powder into a thousand little pieces. Now, instead of (1) throwing it away or (2) pretending like I can still make it work, I can make a new product! Take a bit of lip balm (any cheap chapstick will do) and mix it with the back of a spoon into the crushed powder. If it was face powder, you've now made a great concealer. Just scoop it into a little sampling pot. If it's blush, you've made a great new cream blush that seems to be all the rave these days. If it's eye shadow, you now have a creamy shadow or great base/eyeshadow primer.

Heating Your Lash Curler:

I actually use a heated lash curler that I bought in Hawaii, but I'll admit, sometimes it gets a little too hot and overcurls, if you know what I mean. Well, here's a great tip for your favorite lash curler - heat it up with a hair dryer for a few seconds. Most of them are stainless steel and this should help open the cuticle of the hair, giving your curl a longer hold.

Keep Your Lip Color Real:

If you really like the color of your lipstick in the tube and it seems to come out not-quite-right on your lips, first put some foundation on your lips to give yourself a clearer canvas and the color will appear more true. I know that when I start the day with a particular lipstick and then decide it was all wrong for what I ended up wearing, I take it off with eye makeup remover and then dab some powder on to restart.

Kool-Aid to Cancel the Brassy Blonde?

Now here is a strange one that I have NEVER done and can honestly say I have never thought of. Since I have blonde hair that tends to turn nasty brassy because of my significant red undertones, I am going to give this a try and report back. The idea is to wash your hair with 4 Tbls. of your favorite shampoo, mixed with a small pinch of grape Kool-Aid. Allegedly, the purple blue will cancel out the brassy gold orange because they are at opposite ends of the color spectrum. I mean, we all know about purple blonde shampoo, but why not give good old Kool-Aid a try?