My lovely coworker came into work today with this extremely sad face, and gave me the most pitiful puppy eyes ever.  I looked at her, and at first, I thought she was sick!

Nope!

Her face was just caked in foundation!  Mineral foundation to be exact!!

So she went to the Prescriptives counter at the local Macy's to test out their mineral foundation.  The overly enthusiastic sales assistant caked foundation that was at least 2 shades too light for her all over her face.  He didn't even blend it that well!  She felt like he was treating her as a Japanerse geisha with a super white painted face.  Definitely not the look she was going for.

To make it worse, he topped everything off with the most unnatural shade of peachy pink blush on her, and extended her eyebrows way past where it should end.  I literally help up my pen and angled it with her nose and eyes, and the brows were drawn at least 1/2 a centimeter too long.

Ok fine, you caked this poor girl in hideous makeup.  At least try to balance out everything!  Nope, he left her with bare lips and bare eyes, which just made the cakey foundation even more prominent!

She said she liked the texture and all, but gals, bad makeovers happen at counters more often than not.  Once in a while you'll find someone who is actually good at a counter, but those people are normally promoted or recruited elsewhere within a drop of a hat.

K, I must head to the gym now.  Just wanted to share my coworker's horror counter story with you guys.  Do you guys have any scary counter stories to share?

A week ago, I was forwarded an invitation to receive a free Kerastase hair treatment!  Kerastase participated with a bunch of salons around the country to give away complimentary hair treatments specific for your hair type AND a free blow out!  Unfortunately, most salons offered it only between certain hours, and the one around me which had it all day long were completely booked!

So I asked my friend Felisa if she'd be interested in getting her hair done!  Felisa has naturally wild and curly hair.  She works it like no other, but sometimes wild and curly hair just feels dry and in need of well, treatment.  She stared at me as if I was not real, since she was looking to getting her hair done just as I asked. I sent her off to the Michaeljohn Salon in Sports Club LA here in West Los Angeles, on Sepulveda and Santa Monica.

Anyhow, she went and received the Masque Oleo-Relax treatment, which Kerastase offers for dry, rebellious hair.  It's a deep conditioning masque with Nutri-Huile Copmlex, aimed to defrizz and protect hair.  It's applied section by section, followed by a Kerastase Deluxe Treatment Message, then rinsed out 10 minutes later.  You're left with soft supple hair that's easier to manage!  The result?  Well, here are the pictures!

We didn't get to taking her picture until a few hours after the treatment.  Felisa spruced up her hair lightly by curling the very top with an 1/2 inch flat iron (twist it once, and pull out slowly), and spraying her hair with Hask Pure Shine Spray-on Luminator for this amazing sheen.  Her hair was super soft, and she kept running her hands through it.  I wish I had been there to receive the treatment, but alas, I couldn't.

Oh, Felisa has the most awesome tips on taking great pictures!  She grabbed a chair to lean into to get better angles for her body, and she said to look through celebrity magazines and practice!

So this topic of storage solutions has been brewing in my mind for almost a month, but there's been so much going on, it's been hard to organize my thoughts!  In short, I'M MOVING!!!  It is extremely exciting, and I can't wait to move into my new place, but ugh, the packing is so not fun.  I just stare at my things and have NO idea where to start.

Just to let you guys know, by nature, I'm disorganized.  Apparently I have the form of OCD where yes, I must do things a certain way (it manifests at work), but I can also be extremely disorganized.  For example, when I process samples at work, I have to first line them up in order, and process them in order.  When I make our gel maps, our samples must be in order with the lower ID number on top, and the higher ID number on the bottom.  Before I load a set of samples, all the tubes must be aligned with the hinges all faced a certain way.  It absolutely drives my friend crazy, since I start to hyperventilate when it's not done my way.  BUT, I'm extremely disorganized otherwise!  And it shows in my makeup storage!  I don't want to scare you guys, so no pictures are provided.  =P

So I've thought of some ways to help primarily ME with my storage/organization issue, and thought I'd share!

The first I thought of were makeup bags.  Makeup bags are CHEAP, and often times free with purchase!  All those department store brands give out free makeup bags all the time.  Especially Clinique, who is now giving away a Trina Turk designed makeup bag filled with Clinique goodies!  Makeup bags are great for everyday use.  Get 3 makeup bags and set them on your counter or wherever you put on makeup.  Store all base makeup in 1, all your cheeks in another, and eyes and lips in the third.  Granted, this is for everyday, so the relative small size of the bags forces you to not toss every single item you own in them.  Als, it forces you to switch up your everyday products once in a while!  You can also put everything in 1 bag, your brushes in another bag, so you can easily toss them in your bag for easy touch ups.

When I was looking up makeup bags, I found one that I thought was extremely innovative.  It's one of those products that you thought, wow, where was this when I needed it?  In this case, it's the IcyBag!

What's an IcyBag?  It's a chic looking makeup bag that's completely insulated, and it comes with a gel pouch that you can freeze then dump in the bag to keep all your makeup cold!  Everyone's had their lipsticks melt, so this is one way to keep your lipstick from melting.  You can also store your skincare items that are temperature sensitive in them.  The bag is measures 6x2x8, and the pouch measures 3x6.  It's a good size to carry out and about, especially since the weather is getting hotter and hotter!  Think about it, no more melted makeup!  I only wish it was a tad bit bigger, but nevertheless, it's a really innovative and useful item.  Granted it's not free, but it's only $15 for the bag and 1 gel pouch, and $2 for the bag and 2 gel pouches.  Definitely affordable, especially when it saves one Dior lipstick that's more than $20!

I'm going to get back to staring at my mess and attempt to pack something.  Oh yea, do come back sometime this week and I put up my giveaway item!  I checked out the postage price for international shipping, and turns out, I can totally afford it!  So, do come back sometime this week!  It's not anything huge, but it's a little something!

I've had this idea brewing for a while.  I don't just want to do 1 post on storage, as my posts on 1 singular item is long enough as it is.  I'm doing an entire series!!

And guess what?

I'm going to include a give-away!!

It's not going to be big or anything, but it's a give-away!!!  Unfortunately I can only offer this one to US residents, as shipping is coming out of my pocket.  Regardless, it'll be fun!!

And I want you guys to show me how you store your makeup too!!

Just a side note: Since I've started looking for apartments, I've been keeping eyes out for apartments with a lot of built in storage.  I'm going to need it to store my ever growing beauty stash!  Ugh, why are LA apartments so expensive??  I saw one that I really like today, but I have no idea how much it is.  Originally I want to find something a bit cheaper than what I'm paying now, but if that apartment is the same as my current rent, then I'm soooooo there.  Built in washer and dryer units say it all.  Oh, and dishwasher!

Since I had mentioned Kiehl's Rare Earth Facial Cleansing Masque in my previous post, how about a proper review on it?

There's something fun and girly about using green colored masks.  I remember my sister having a green mask that she would use when I was really young.  Is it because the color reminds us of nature, tricking us into thinking that we're using nature to draw our impurities from our skin?  Or is it simply because we grew up watching our moms or older sisters/cousins using green masks, that when we grow up, we end up with green masks as well?

For me, it's a little bit of both.  I know that you can't draw our impurities and toxins from your body through your skin, but I can't help but be a victim of great marketing.  It's what spas tell us when they wrap us up and throw in into mud - we're detoxifying through our skin!  Even though that's not true, there is something soothing and mentally cleansing about masks, especially green masks.

I first came upon Kiehl's Rare Earth Facial Cleansing Masque on my sister's bathroom counter.  She's practically OCD about her skin, so every other day she's using this mask or that mask.  She happily told me that this mask from Kiehl's was "cheap!"  Knowing her and the great lengths she goes about to take care for her skin, I thought by cheap, she meant under $100.  Little did I know that this was only about $20!  You can barely pay for a decent dinner in LA for $20, so yes, I can skip a dinner and purchase a 5.0 oz jar of cleansing mask.

According to the label, this mask is "a thorough cleansing masque that may be used on oily, blemish-prone, or enlarged pore areas... (it) cleanses the skin by eliminating daily debris and dead surface skin-cell accumulation that can clog pores and leave the skin dull-looking."  The website says that it's "a non-stripping, pore-cleansing clay masque to absorb excess surface oil. Leaves skin soft, clean and smooth."  In other words, it's a clay exfoliant!  Their key ingredients are Kaolin and Bentonite, both clays that absorb oil well.

Does this cleansing mask do what it says it will?  Well, yes!  Kiehl's do not make outrageous claims with this product, which to me is always surprising, and guess what?  My skin does feel cleaner and less oily.  It also feels quite smooth!  It however, does dry out your skin a bit, so don't leave this on for too long, especially if you already have dry skin.  Us oily-skin gals would definitely benefit from this more than dry-skin gals.

It's also quite easy and not-messy to use.  Simply use your fingers to spread a thin layer (for me, it was about a quarter size) onto your damp skin, being careful to smooth it out as best as you can.  Be really really careful not to get this in or around your eye!  The area below your eyes are probably dry as it is, so you don't want to dry it out any more!  Wait about 5 minutes (it dries really fast), and rinse it off with warm water.  You can use your bare hands, a small facial towel, or one of those new towel mittens for more exfoliation.  It washes off really easily and quickly, and your skin just feels clean afterwards!  I immediately applied my moisturizer on so my skin won't dry out!  Also, try not to talk or smile when you have the mask on, as it dries and tightens, making it quite painful to well, smile or talk.  My dad once called while I had the mask on and he thought something was wrong.  =P

Bottom line, it's a relatively inexpensive mask that does what it claims to do.  It does imply that it will help with acne and large pores, but in all honesty, that's hard to prove when I'm also using salicylic acid, isn't it?

Rare-Earth Facial Cleansing Masque

$20.00 at Kiehl's

Nadine of Jolie Nadine has posted this on her blog, and I'm just re-posting it here!

Going green can be tough. Sure, it’s easy recycling water bottles and yesterday’s newspaper, but what about, say, empty jars of moisturizer? It’s much easier to throw empty bottles and jars away in the trash, especially when they take up so much room!

Kiehl’s has started a new recycling program that’ll help us stay green, as well as keep greens in our wallet! The new Recycle and Be Rewarded! program is super easy to participate in, and offers fabulous rewards, to boot.

How easy is it? Bring your empty Kiehl’s tubes, jars, bottles, etc., to any of their free-standing stores, and in exchange, you’ll get a stamp card to accumulate stamps. Each container is worth 1 stamp, and you’ll receive your Kiehl’s reward depending on how many stamps you have. You’ll get 1 complimentary tube of the famous Lip Balm #1, which has an SPF of 4 in it, for every 3 bottles or 3 stamps. With 5 bottles or 5 stamps, you can choose anything from the Official Kiehl’s Travel Collection. For the big prize, with 10 bottles of 10 stamps, you can choose any single product with up to $25, excluding Flagship Exclusive Items or charitable products. Once you’ve redeemed your products or filled up your card, you get new cards to start all over again!

How awesome is this program? I’m saving my stamps to get the Rare-Earth Facial Cleansing Masque ($20)–one of my favorite cleansing masks.

Let’s recap:

1. Save empty Kiehl’s containers
2. Go to any free-standing Kiehl’s stores (store locater)
3. Get reward card and start stamping!
4. Trade in 3 containers or 3 stamps for 1 complimentary tube of Lip Balm #1
5. Trade in 5 containers or 5 stamps for anything from the Official Kiehl’s Travel Collection
6. Trade in 10 containers or 10 stamps for any item valued up to $25, excluding Flagship Exclusive Items or charitable products
7. Get new card and start over!

Isn’t that super easy? Now we just need other brands to start similar programs so I can clear out my drawers…

If you guys are linked here from Jolie Nadine, HIHI!!  Hopefully you stay and chill with me for a bit!

Funny story - a while back I tested out this peppermint body butter, and OMG, I was shivering so much since it was about 40 or 50 degrees out and the peppermint cooled my skin to a point that I was freezing!  I've since then learned my lesson.  I'll only use mint based body washes and lotions on hot hot days!

Nowadays, it's not so hot, so I'm trying out a new shower wash with shea butter in it!  Now, I love shea butter in my lotions and body wash.  It's just such a rich and moisturizing ingredient and it has the yummiest and warmest smell ever.  I pretty much associate shea butter with luxurious hydration.  I automatically assume that anything with shea butter would be great for my skin.

I received both the lotion and body wash from Johnson's Be Radiant Cocoa & Shea Butter line free a few Sundays ago at a beauty sale hosted by Nadine Haobsh of Jolie Nadine.  I had applied to be her intern a few weeks back, so I was suppose to help her out.  Thing is, she had set up all the work, so I basically just went and mingled!  The sale was to raise money for the Lymphoma Research Foundation, a cause really dear to Nadine Haobsh as her mom recently passed away from it.  She had really great things out for sale, and within 15 minutes, practically everything was sold out.  At the end, she raised almost $1000, while everything was on sale for $1 or $5!!  Johnson and Johnson hosted the event, and packaged these nifty gift bags for everyone that included the lotion and body wash.  Nadine also threw in some other things she had on hand, including copies of her new book (which unfortunately I didn't get, but it's OK since I already bought a copy).

Now the lotion itself is nothing short of wonderful.  It's what you want in lotions - moisturizing, but absorbs quicly without leaving a gross film on your body.  It also smells very yummy and warm!  It's so important for me to have a lotion that absorbs quickly since oily hands and latex gloves do not go well together.  At the same time, the lotion manages to be a bit thick!  Cosmetic chemists really do formulate great products nowadays, don't they?  The smell - mmm, like warm cocoa and shea butter.  I'm sniffing my skin now, which is about 2 hours after I last applied the lotion, and I still detect a chocolate scent.  LoL!  It's not overly sweet or anything either!

The body wash is also a great product.  It's definitely going to be a staple in my shower.  It lathers up so soft and rich, into a lovely rich foam.  It's also very moisturizing due to the shea butter.  I've used other drugstore brand shea butter based body washes, and this one is one of the best.  The fragrance isn't too strong that it's sickening, but it's there and comforting.  I swear, body washes like these are every girl's bestfriend, because they offer such relaxing and rich 5 minute daily escapes.  As I'm scrubbing, i can't help but imagine that I'm in some nice spa being pampered.  It feels great, even though it's only for 5 minutes.  The soft creamy and moisturizing foam along with the fragrance just takes me away from everything.  MmmM, I'm feeling myself relaxes just thinking about it!

Anyhow, both are quite inexpensive and readily available at your favorite drugstores or Target.

I have tons of posts to write, others to finish editing, but I'm just a tad behind.  I feel like I'm always behind!!

Anyhow, I need to just tweak some posts and they'll be up.  I also need to find a new apartment, wash my brushes, and catch up on 24.  I'm a few hours behind Jack Bauer.

On a totally different topic, I liked this season of America's Next Top Model.  Most of the girls were quite model-esque, and although my favorite, Aminat, didn't make it to the top 3, my 2nd favorite, Teyona, won!  YAY!  Aminat was my favorite from day 1, but her pictures could have been much better.  Her face is so special and unique!  I love her large, but not soo humongous, almond shaped eyes, paired with her gorgeous pouty lips.  Plus her walk is great!  I hope to see her around.

Oh yea, I'm also totally in love with Sutan, the makeup artist from the show.  Is he super talented or what?  Sutan, or anyone that knows him or represents him, I want to interview you!  I want you to give me a make over!  I hope you get a bigger role within the ANTM universe in the up coming cycles!!

I was nominated for the "Best Blogger" Friendship Award by my dear friend Dian at AdoreBeauty.  She's such a sweetie, and her blog is truly great.  Her E/FOTDs are great, and she updates constantly!  Thanks sweetie for nominating me!!

So there are rules:
1. Take your award here
2. Put the logo on your post
3. Link the person who awarded you
4. Nominate at least 7 other bloggers
5. Add the links of those bloggers on yours.
6. Leave a message for your nominees

I love all the blogs I read, and I love everyone here on onSugar too!  I nominate everyone in my blogroll and under the blogs I follow area.  So everyone, click on my links and show them love!

I hate dandruff.  I've suffered from dandruff since I was little.  It's been an on-and-off thing, but recently, it's become really bad.  Sometimes I'll have a huge dandruff break out for a few weeks, but it goes away.  This time, it just refuses to leave!

In the past, Head and Shoulders have worked well for me.  I just go back on it, and voila, dandruff gone!  However, I've been using Head and Shoulders for a while now, and the dandruff just keeps coming back like some serial stalker.

I'm not that into DIY home remedies, so I googled up online what else was available, and saw that Neutrogena makes a shampoo for dandruff called T/Gel.  I've seen that in drugstores, but never knew exactly what it was.  Now I do!  I checked up the store weekly ads for the drugstores around me and saw that Rite-Aid was having a BOGO 50% off deal for Neutrogena products, and off I went!

Now why did I go with T/Gel instead of any other dandruff shampoo?  I saw that T/Gel also helps other scalp problems aside from dandruff, including psoriasis and seborrheic dermatitis.  Now, I'm looking at pictures of scalps with each problem, and I still can't identify what I have.  Perhaps my problem isn't fungal, which causes dandruff, so I grabbed T/Gel just in case I have seborrheic dermatitis or psoriasis.

I've just washed my hair, and so far it's been good.  I bought the Stubborn Itch Control formula, which contains coal tar to treat scalp flaking and itchiness and menthol to cool and calm the scalp.  I also bought the matching conditioner since it contains 3% salicylic acid, which is also good for dandruff.

So far, my concerns and dislikes are quite minor, so minor that it definitely does not deter me from using the products again.  The shampoo has a warning label that says it could discolor your hair, especially bleached hair.  I could always stop bleaching my hair, so that's not such a big deal.  There is also a fairly strong fragrance to the product, which I think is added to mask the scent of the active ingredients.  The conditioner doesn't really moisturize my locks, but you can always just massage the conditioner onto your scalp, and use your normal conditioner near the tips of your hair.

Some of you guys may wonder if coal tar is safe or not.  According to both the National Psoriasis Foundation and the FDA, coal tar is safe from 0.5% - 5%, with no scientific evidence proving that it's carcinogenic.  Some people get freaked out about this sort of things, but bleh, practically everything is carcinogenic in high doses.

I'll definitely come back in a few weeks and tell you guys if my dandruff problem lessens or worsens!  It just really sucks at work since we all wear dark blue lab coats!  There's no way you can disguise dandruff when you are wearing dark blue every single day as part of your work uniform!

Neutrogena T-Gel Shampoo, Extra Strength

$9.49 by Neutrogena at drugstore.com

Extra Strength Therapeutic Shampoo #1 Dermatologist Recommended Brand

• seborrheic dermatitis
• psoriasis Neutrogena® T/Gel® Extra Strength Therapeutic Shampoo is recommended by dermatologists to effectively control even the most resistant scalp conditions with twice the amount of active ingredient as T/Gel Original Formula.

• 1% Coal Tar

Neutrogena T-Gel Treatment Conditioner

$6.29 by Neutrogena at drugstore.com

Fights Itchy, Flaky Scalp

• Extra control when used with a therapeutic shampoo
• Controls the symptoms of:

• Dandruff
• Psoriasis
• Seborrheic Dermatitis