Eyes

Hello studio audience - Jeanasina here!  Today I’m going to be talking to you about anatomicals “eye cream… you scream, we all scream for eye cream”!  This company is so off the charts fun I don’t know that anything I can say could possibly be more clever or as funny as this company is!  Honey, the spotlight is totally on anatomicals, I’m just the prop guy in the back laughing at their material!  Listen to what it says on the tube! “regenerating eye cream for value, performance and cuteness…” How adorable is that!  What eye cream EVER says anything about being ‘cute’ as part of the results of using their eye cream!  Man it’s been a long LONG time since anyone used the words “she’s cute!” on me!  I’d horde the stuff and eat it just totally hoping I get to be thought of as cute again one more time in this lifetime!  Nobody says ‘cute’ anymore. 

These days all you hear is, “She’s hot!”  If you overhear guys sometimes when they are checking out a girl, one guy inevitably will say in a high voice “She is one FINE lookin’ woman” and then make some gestures to go along with his admiring glances.  On TV when they want you to buy their lipstick - they tell you that if you use their lipstick you’ll be sultry, daring, sizzling, exotic and completely compelling!  Not once do they say “Use our lipstick and you’ll look really cute!”  Like I said, people don’t use the word ‘cute’ anymore very often, at least not when looking directly at me!

I think I mentioned before I’d just love to own this store if they opened one in my town!  Oh man, EVERYBODY would be in the store and the ENERGY in this store has to be really great all the time!  I mean these people get to come up with off the wall names for their products!  I wish I worked for them just to help come up with more hysterical names for great products!  Their philosophy seems to be…

Whatever you look like,
whatever shape you are in
We only want you for your body.

They have that last line on most of their containers too.  Ingenious marketing!
 
Clever and creative names for every single product!  A month or so ago we reviewed “No Old Bags Allowed” -and we LOVE IT! I mean really!  “No Old Bags Allowed”!!! - Do you think for one minute Estee Lauder is EVER going to call their line of eye cream, “No Old Bags Allowed”?  NEVER!  But anatomicals must have known they have a great product line - the items they sell all WORK great! The feedback is always that people are really happy with the quality and results of their products…SO…….if people already are sold on the product, then…how about if we just name each item ANY THING WE WANT TO!  And that, is what I think, they did!  They have a cream called “Puffy the eye bag slayer”!!! - I want to work there and help create these names!  Can you imagine how much fun they must have every day?  They must bounce names off of one another and bust a gut laughing and then spend hours narrowing it down to which is the funniest name for their newest product and then they start all over again!

You use the… Eye Cream, You scream, We All Scream for Eye Cream…twice a day. You are to apply it to the ‘delicate eye area’  I’m never sure just how much of the eye area is considered ‘delicate‘, so I pretty much swathe just about the entire eye socket and the circumference around that and I think I have it covered.  I’d use the no old bags allowed when I felt that my eyes had reached a very unflattering hag like quality.  It definitely helped perk them up!  

I have a lot of eye creams - everybody wants to win the race for best eye cream!  I mean, where do you even start?  Even though we watch our eyes like vultures looking to see if there is a new laugh line or crinkle that wasn’t there the day before - is there really any cream that can honestly bring your eyes back to the way when you were in your 20’s?  I don’t think so - not really.  But in the meantime, I still believe that using eye cream is important and I never miss a day or night of putting it on!   The Anatomicals Eye Cream, You Scream, We All Scream for Eye Cream is odorless, comes out in a white cream which turns completely transparent the moment you touch it and put it around your eye.  It feels a bit cool when you put it on; but it’s a nice feeling. I liked this cream a lot but.

Anatomicals is on Facebook!  This review might have been even longer but I got totally sucked into their Facebook page.  Look at it - you are definitely going to like it!  Just start with looking at their “INFO” page! Once you get there you can read the names of all their fun products!   Listen to this, they have a bar of soap that’s called “Get your filthy hands on me”!   I wonder how the scenario would play out if, at the exact second I came home with that soap in my bag, my husband happened to drive up on his Harley and ask me “What’s in the bag dear?”  If I looked back at him and answered “Get your filthy hands on me”…would he assume I’m talking to him and act on it?

Gigi here! I’ve lost my tolerance for Goth and I need a “fix”—rainbows of color!  I am a “girly girl,” so please bear with me as fix my pink parasol before I type.  Moreover, I tend to concur with Woody Allen’s comment that, “I’m not afraid of dying, but I don’t want to be there when it happens.”
 
Before I go further, I have forgotten again and again to warn you against a phenomenon, the “Makeup Shock Index” (MSI). It’s worse than the “Dreaded Orange Mask” women create when foundation is too dark or orange for their skintones.  When you see magazine photos of celebs bare-faced, they’re proving a point, as I had an encounter with this first-hand.  But I learned a lesson and wish to pass it on.  However much makeup you use in general with under various circumstances, such as to work or on dates, make it consistent, make it a habit, and do not differentiate.
 
Do you wear no makeup?  Fine, as long as your skin is protected against the sun with SPF so that the Meg Police are not driven to kill you, as it’s both a sin and a felony.  We don’t want to go to hell, especially over cosmetics.  And neon DOC jumpsuits aren’t particularly flattering, as they add pounds. Do you wear just a little?  That works.  However, if you’re semi- or all-glam most of the time, this means you in particular.   
 
At twenty-two, I became friends with one of the employees who maintained Price Waterhouse’s library.   Abby (name changed to protect the trespasser) was utterly beautiful, but one day I arrived at work very early and stopped to speak to her.  It wasn’t Abby.  She had become a combination of the “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” Freddie Kruger, Jason, and worse.  She must have noted my shock and said that she had had no time to put on any makeup at all that morning.
 
Who knew what magic Abby had wrought before coming to the office?  Her skin tone was terribly uneven and I could have parked trucks in her large pores.  I think I saw slits she called eyes.  Brows?  What brows?  Her lips disappeared. She asked, “Gigi, are you okay?  Is there something I can do for you?”  My first thought was to ask, “Yes, tell me—are you an alien?  Where you’ve hidden the real Abby?”  Then I nearly swallowed my tongue rather than say, “Yes—run like the wind before anyone else sees you.”  That is not arrogance.  I struggle with manifold issues, from enlarged pores, “turkey neck,” inherited “frown lines,” and nearly non-existent eyes, but I deal with them.  Shock therapy should be reserved for certified mental institutions with padded cells.
 
What one sole item could have transformed Abby from Godzilla?  Maybelline’s “Expert Wear Shadows” in their “Stylish Smokes.”  Actually, I’ve never been a fan of their eyeshadows.  I’ve purchased their eight-color pans and thrown them away over and over.  They lack pigment, and application is akin to boot camp.  You become strong—Army strong!
 
I picked up one quad in this new line recently.  Like a Stepford wife, it seemed as if my hand moved by itself to purchase one against my will.  Now these rank very high on my list of “must-have’s.”  The rest of the display became history and is in my home.
 
The hues are incredible.  The formula is soft and blends like a dream; build as much color as you want.  Have a busy day?  It stays in place long after you pass out.  Maybelline’s coordination is brilliance.  The “Natural Smokes” compact has unique tones of brown and a maverick silver-infused chocolate.  The directions are simple and show where shadow is to be applied on the compact, a huge help for those of you who are clinging to more boring tones disguised under the name of “neutrals” (pardon me while I yawn).  These are subtle shadows with moxie!  “Amethyst” is a high-powered posh capable of becoming a “yowsa” quad.  Plush purple with a hint of sheen is applied over the lid, with a matte eggplant to contour, an inky-black to line, and an ecru to use on your browbone or just above your pupil for all eyes on you.

Meg here! I am having a birthday party tomorrow night. My birthday is Monday and who wants to party on a Monday? One of my guy friends can't be there so I went out with him last night. I raged! I was like a caged animal released (its been a tough month.) I really was naughty and really wild.

I had to get myself to Costco today with my friend John and we had to get some party supplies. I didn't put any makeup on except my moisturizing sunscreen. I barely had the energy to drag a comb through my hair. I felt like death warmed over and headed to John's place to get the errands done.

John: Meg, wow! You look great. Really you look young and fresh faced. I think this is the best you've looked.

I am ready to beat him but then I realize something HE IS BEING SERIOUS

He goes on to tell me that I wear too much makeup and it just makes me look older. Solero and Megken have said the same thing to me pretty recently as well.  I don't know if my new beauty routine should include me going out the night before and dancing on tables but HHmm something to think about I guess

This brings me to TheBalm Two Timer Mascara. My friend was just in town visiting me from the UK and he said "Are those your real lashes? They look real but are they those lash extension things?" They were my "real lashes" I had just used the "Marcus Lashalot" end with is the fuller end of the dual wand. It is great becuse it actually gets really skinny in the middle of the lash wand to collect gumped up extra clump so your lashes just look long and full-but they're REAL no extenstions needed.

During the day, I absolutey love the other end of the mascara "Johnny Finetune" it lets me be precise and it looks like I'm not even wearing any mascara. It just really makes my eyes POP. It's just a sexy girl next door hotness. Apparently lately, I've been looking like I should be on the show The Girl Next Door!

I love that it is duo-sides because as women, we need A. Options B. Cosmetic Case Space! I really grab for this little Two-Timer constantly.

Sharond here! I grew up on a farm in northern Minnesota.  In the 1900’s through 1970’s, and even now, farm chemicals were everywhere and considered safe causing no problems to humans or animals. We would spray for flies, run our hands through bags of fertilizer or insecticide while spreading it evenly in the spreader and didn’t give it a second thought.  A couple of great part time job for youth was being the flagger for the crop dusters or roaging corn, both meaning we were standing in clouds of farm chemicals.  Needless to say, cancer, Lou Gehrigs, MS and other diseases has ravaged every family in our community.  I moved away as soon as I graduated from high school, however all five of the children in our family did end up with lungs that are damaged, even though none ever smoked.

Because of my knowledge and fear of chemicals and seeing first hand how cruel and silent they can be, looking for products that are as free of chemicals and not tested on animals are very important to me.  Recently I was introduced to a brand I had never heard of, Kumaara.  I read everything on their website which explains that transformative power of Kumaara comes from a unique marriage of nature and science. Their family of skincare formulas binds the beautifying effects of nature’s botanicals and matches them with the power of scientific innovation.  15 such components are in Kumaara products and are credited for creating a youthful glow.  These products are Organic berries, hibiscus seed extract, Dermaxyl, Matrixyl 3000, red seaweed extract, Actiflow, Everseryl and Syn-Ake to name a few.  So far everything looked good to me.  The site also explains what each of these ingredients are known to correct.  The idea of my skin being protected from free radicals, the texture, density, firmness and elasticity improved creating skin that looks and feels years younger was exactly what I was looking for and needed.

I tested the Kumaara Luminizing Eye Treatment.  The product comes in a stunning black and gold half ounce jar filled with a luscious thick white cream that did not have much of a scent.  Kumaara claims this product will brighten and de-puff delicate under-eye skin.  Actiflow and Haloxyl reduce under-eye circles while Eyerseryl fights puffiness.  Iridescent luminizers dramatically illuminates the eye area with a youthful glow and soothes irritation and calms the skin.

The directions tell you to put a small amount of this treatment under the eye.  Kumaara recommends a 60 day trial to see the full benefit of their eye brightening system.  I noticed a significant difference in less than one week.  I met a friend today for lunch and the first thing out of her mouth was “What concealer are you using?”  I told her that I wasn’t wearing any and filled her in on this wonderful new eye treatment.  I have been following the directions that came with the product which recommends this is for under the eye only, not above.  You should use your ring finger and lightly pat the cream on before using any other products on your face.  

We got a little thrown off with the holiday so Katie is bringing you Saurdays at Sephora on Sunday! Hope your 4th was wonderful! Love, Meg

Kate here! I've been there and I know it's hard to do.  I've watched countless early 90210 episodes and I know that Kelly and Donna were 'thin by all meanings of the word'.  But, my friends, it's 2009 and it's time to make a clean break, get sober, and put the tweezers down!  What starts as a "simple" pluck of a single stray transforms into Jackson Pollock random pop art.  And our eyebrows are the sufferers for it!  Thicker (or thick!) brows have been back for a while and personally, I really don't think they ever go out of style (Hello, Audrey Hepburn!)  
 
I bring you photographic evidence to show you that I learned the hard way--but luckily before it was too late.  Above and right you see my senior picture (age 17) in the fall of 2003.  Excuse the bad eyeliner and acrylic nails but notice just how thin and uneven and unnatural my eyebrows were! I had a sickness and I didn't know what a real eyebrow should look at.  About two years later, while I was working in a small cosmetics boutique in Oxford, Mississippi, the BrowGal on hand gave me an intervention!  She told me STOP!  Only pluck the ones that are really stray! And never from above the brow!  Just fill in with a little powder/pomade/gel if you please!  As you can see by July of 2008 I had truly recovered - and before it was too late.  It never is good when you have to DRAW on your eyebrows later in life.  They never look real!
 
- Hold a pencil or straight age beside your nose and straight up perpendicular to the inner corner of your eye.  Your brow should begin outside of this line and you can pluck any and all unibrow wannabes in between!  
- Extend your pencil from the outer corner of your eyes at a 45 degree angle.  Your brows should stop inside this line, so you don't want them drawn or grown out to your temples.  That's weird!
- If your brow hairs are particularly long, comb them all up with a brow comb or a clean toothbrush sprayed with a little hairspray.  Only trim the ones that go above your "horizon" line.
 
My brows are actually a little bit sparse towards the center so I do fill them in a bit every day.  Below are a few of my favorite brow products for you to pick and choose!