[*]Hello Ladies: If you want to save some dinero, try some of these... they work, are inexpensive; of course it's mostly the packaging so get creative:
[*]Lips: couple of ideas: art store for small metal water color palette holders or health food store for small (usually about 6 compartments) vitamin boxes. Use an exacto blade to scrape out the (up to) 1/4 inch of lipstick in the bottom of the tube (don't cut yourself) & put it in your tin or box. Buy a small glassine baggy of small plastic spatulas (I think Sally's has them, maybe Avon or Mary Kay folks have them). Use your favorite brand of vaseline (petroleum style or vegetarian style) or vitamin E stick & add to your lip tin, either in one separate compartment or add to your lip color(s). You can buy small retractable lip brushes & voila, you just saved big bucks on lip palettes. Customize for cool, warm, bright, neutral or glossy. Bare Minerals has some shimmery shadows (as do other lines of loose mineral powders) for added glossiness, shimmer, etc. You can use these on your eyelids as well. They keep a very long time. As usual, if they smell a bit funky or start to get too dry, you can add some vegetarian crisco (Way cheap & effective...plastic surgeons recommend the real crisco to patients after facelifts for moisture & barrier protection against infection & exposure to external pollutants...go figure). Or, you can use a q-tip to get rid of it & start over.
[*]Lip & Eye liners really last a whole lot longer in wood than plastic. Just keep covered with cap & sharpen periodically. I love the chubby lip pencils & have a few left over from OLD Garden Botanika-in-the-mall days. Yep, I'm a packrat - can't find some of my fave colors... so learn to mix up your own colors.
[*]Scrubs: Very easy, cheap. For Acne (from Erno Laszlo, the Romanian skin guru): Clean out your sink (every time) & fill it with HOT water. Splash your face 30 times. Put some organic sunflower, sweet almond, hazelnut or extra virgin olive oil (he uses something called 'chalmoogra' oil...still haven't figured out what that is or where it's found... something like 'torecillium' from an earlier post) around your eyes (or use Fanie Misty E or Herbal Oil) & gently massage it in in small circular motions, from inner eye corners around the bone, up to scalp from brows, around mouth clockwise & then counterclockwise, from collarbone, sweep up to jawbone about 10 time alternating hands, and using pointer & middle fingers, slide under and over jawbone from chin to earlobe. Takes about 1 &1/2 minutes.
[*]Squeeze the juice of 1 fresh lemon (purists can use organic lemons, plebes like me use the concentrate in the plastic lemon in winter). Massage it in gently on top of the oil.
[*]Get some small jam jars with those cool wire closures. Put in one of them some baking soda & finely ground sea salt. Put in another one a 50-50 mix of organic rice flour & organic whole milk powder. For Acne, dip your fingertips in the water & then in the soda/salt mix & GENTLY massage in the oily areas over the oil-lemon. Add more water to make it smooth. Avoid eye area but use from chest-neck up to hairline. This can be done in the shower for an entire body-spa-scrub experience. Just don't forget to use a mat for slipperyness protection. For spots, dry skin, back of hands & lightening discolorations (lactic acid, b-vitamins): Dip fingertips in water & use the rice/milk mix, add water to make a paste & more to smooth over skin in gentle circular motions. Can be used on body, prefer to do in bath tub & then rinse with shower as lactic acid in milk is good to soak bodyskin in. (Ah Cleopatra...) You can add a drop of essential oil lavendar or rose or neroli to make it soothing for dry, irritated skin (if you like the smell it's a good sign you'll get benefit from it...if it smells too strong or 'wrong', try something else). Even oily skin needs oil or it will overproduce what we strip it of.
[*]Rinse well & pat dry. If you need more moisture, just a dab of Fanie Dreme or Orange cream on cheeks, Fine Line on eyes. For body, Elastin lotion or Supermoist (great for preventing pregnancy stretch marks & non-elastic cellulite on thighs).
