Amazing Makeup.Com

Being beauty and house obsessed is a great way to live I think. A couple months ago I mentioned the fact that we had an old derelict-looking mailbox on our door for maybe 15 years or so, and that I finally upped and got a new one. Well since that time I’ve still been researching cool mailboxes and outdoor name branding options, and today I came across Mailbox And Beyond.

They are an online store offering everything from whitehall mailboxes to address plaques and more. If you’re seeking personalized home accents (such as mailboxes and address plaques) & garden decor products (such as outdoor thermometers and birdhouses) you definitely need to check out Mailbox And Beyond. I’m about to place an order with them, and surely this place will become one of my favorite places to shop for home and garden accents.

Today, April 22, 2009, is Earth Day. Earth Day is a day that’s designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970, and is celebrated in many countries every year, including right here in the U.S.

Here’s my bit for Earth Day today – recycle your makeup. You can become ‘eco-chic’ in many ways. Buying eco-friendly products is one thing, but how about recycling your makeup! Here’s how:

• Mix products together to create new shades – for e.g., use the remnants of an old eye shadow to customize new shades of lip gloss, eyeliner or nail polish. Mix and match to get creative!
• Create your own polish or gloss – for e.g. mix your old clear nail polish with one of the twenty Napoleon Perdis Loose Dust shades.
• Breathe new life into your mascara – by adding some drops of baby oil to it; this will lengthen your supply and keep it fresh.
• Create your own eyeliner – create numerous shades of liner by taking eyeliner sealer and dabbing it into your favorite eye shadow. This will turn the shadow into liquid eyeliner. You can also dip the Sealer into the loose dust/powder (mentioned above) and brush it onto your lashes – voila, no mascara needed!

That’s it for now. Enjoy Earth Day and do your part by recycling your makeup.

Just thought I’d give my readers a security tip or two, because the economy is getting worse and it seems we have a lot more to be careful about these days – home invasions, kidnappers, robberies, you name it! We live in a small town, but a rash of recent incidents including abductions and home invasions caused us to reconsider our home security and invest in a serious home security system.

ADT is Advanced Direct Security and I think it’s the best monitored home security system on the market today. It’s easy to use (a simple keychain remote allows you to arm and disarm it), it’s 24 hours monitoring (so the instant there’s a breach or something happens, ADT can send authorities and emergency services rapidly) and it’s cheap / affordable. Getting a security system for your home these days is basically as important as having homeowners insurance and other critical services. Look into it now … don’t get caught napping .. protect your family!

Hey, just in case you haven’t seen this before, there’s a revolutionary new way to shop – ShopWiki.com. It’s an online shopping site that’s set up like a guide to help us (the shopaholics) find specific products for sale on the Internet … with immense ease!

It finds online shopping sites on the Internet (much in the same way that Google searches and finds new sites), which makes life immensely easy because when you search for a particular item, for e.g. – makeup – it gives detailed information about makeup items, and gives you the option to search for makeup products by brand, price and other variables. For sure you need to check out their Home & Garden section.

Also, just to give an example that’s specific to beauty products, lets say you were looking for a Bare Escentuals Lip Liner, it shows you that there are X number of online stores offering this item, and it gives you the actual price of the product at each of these stores. How’s that for saving on your time and your pocket!

Try it for yourself … makeup and beauty products are just one of the dozens of categories that you can check out. There are others such as Furniture, Outdoor Entertaining, and others. Way to go for this fresh, cool, online shopping resource.

Wondering how to get perfect lashes? Follow these simple steps:

1. Start with an eyelash curler. Set it as close as possible to the base of the lashes … do this before applying the mascara in order to prevent any chance of breakage. All you need is one or two pumps – because you really don’t want to wind up with crimped lashes.
2. Now for the mascara – After taking the wand out of the tube, remove the excess from the end of the brush, using either the opening of the tube or a piece of tissue. Lay the wand on top of the upper lashes. Be sure to set the brush as close to the base of the lashes as possible. Then, lightly shake your hand so the lashes settle in between the bristles. Then, slowly roll the wand between your thumb and forefinger – this will pull the lashes up and into the wand. Once the wand is properly placed, wiggle it from left to right as you slowly pull the wand up through the lashes.
3. Now for the lash comb – while the mascara is still wet, lay a clean lash comb on the lashes and quickly pull it through to separate the lashes. It’s very important that you let this coat fully dry before applying the next coat. This will prevent that ‘clumpy’ look that sometimes happens. Three coats is usually best.
4. Last step – using what is left over on the brush, sweep a single light coat onto the bottom lashes. Go easy for the lower lashes (less is more for these lower lashes!)

FYI also, very often mascara runs because it slides into concealers and/or eye creams. You can prevent this by sealing them. How? By dusting a healthy layer of translucent powder – like Cover FX Setting Powder ($32 at sephora.com) – under and over the eyes!