About
Chic Critique is a group of girlfriends who like to talk beauty and fashion. We’ll tell you the products we like and the ones we don’t. We’ll let you in on the tips and tricks we discover to help us all look our best, and we love to discuss the latest trends.
Most of the products we discuss are ones we discovered and purchased ourselves. However, should you be a company or PR firm looking to have your product reviewed, or if you would like to advertise on our site, we would love to talk to you. Please direct all inquiries to Jo-Lynne at dcrmom (at) gmail.com.
Our Contributors:
Jo-Lynne is the owner of Chic Critique. She grew up a child of the ’80s in southern Virginia where the only thing bolder than the makeup was the voluminous hair. She came by her affection for beauty products honestly as her mom spoiled her at a young age with Lancome skincare products and Paul Mitchell hairspray.
Her mom also instilled in her the notion that a lady never leaves the house without her face on, meaning a full face of makeup. Jo-Lynne took this sage advice to heart, although after four years of college in New England, she learned to embrace a more natural makeup regimen. And she lost the big hair, perhaps the most significant decision of her young life.
As a mom of three, Jo-Lynne has discovered that there are some things more important than having her face on before she leaves the house, like having her daughter to school on time, but she still loves to glam it up for a night out every once in a while.
Jo-Lynne currently resides in the exurbs of Philadelphia with her handyman/computer geek husband and her three lively children.
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Janel is in charge of PR and marketing at Chic Critique. She is a full time stay at home mommy that doesn’t seem to stay at home much. Born and raised in the MidWest she is now happily settled in North Carolina with her husband of 12 years and two kids.
Her love affair with all things cosmetic started at a young age when her mom enrolled her in “modeling school” at the blossoming age of 14. Though she never made it to the runway, she did end up learning much about skincare, make-up and fashion. Not a fashionista in any way but very much a lover of shopping and never one to pass up a good deal, Janel loves to stumble on a new product.
For most of her life skincare has been simple but as she approaches 40 she is finding that her skin is changing and in need of the not so simple. Never satisfied with her hair, she is often changing the cut, color and trying many new hair products. She recently even colored her own hair for the first time (and her real friends tell her it looks better than it has in years –shh don’t tell her stylist!). Her true loves are for make-up, bath products and perfume, though. For a short time in her young adult life she spent much of her hard-earned dollars on expensive department store make-up and perfume. Now, with a family to take care of and (gasp!) a budget to maintain she happily makes most of her make-up purchases at the drugstore (with coupons) and only occasionally shops for a few department store items. She believes that there some cosmetics that are truly over-priced and others that you simply cannot skimp on. It takes a lot of trying to figure out which is which!
When Janel is not running all around town with her family and friends you can find her blogging about them at Dandelion Dayz. She also blogs monthly for a local Children’s Website called Triangle TRACKs.
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Michelle is a 30-something Midwest native now living in the South. Over the years, she has suffered through her fair share of bad perms, sky-high bangs, and disastrous makeup trends. After a brief but intense Madonna phase in junior high, she traded in her black rubber bracelets in search of a more “low-key” style.
Michelle’s fascination with beauty products began with Maybelline and Cover Girl. She quickly graduated to the likes of Clinique, Lancôme and Estée Lauder, and now just uses what works –- which is a mix of everything.
These days, as a wife and stay-at-home mom to three, she spends her days changing diapers, doing laundry, running carpool, and figuring out what to make for dinner. When she doesn’t have her kids in tow, you’ll find her wandering the aisles of the local CVS –- enjoying a little quiet time while feeding a growing addiction to lip gloss. Michelle blogs regularly at Life with Three.
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Sarah is a soon-to-be college graduate from Indiana. Growing up with a very classy mother, Sarah learned from an early age that both high-end brands and drugstore steals deserve a spot in her medicine cabinet.
Sarah’s love of makeup began in the sixth grade when her elementary school banned the students from wearing makeup. Never one to follow the rules, she meticulously applied white eye shadow each morning, reveling in her rebellious ways. To this day, nothing has really changed. Sarah is the girl who went to all of her college classes with a full face of makeup. Though her friends urged her to take a break, she never listened.
Today, Sarah’s beauty and apparel wardrobe consists of pretty much everything. On a daily basis, Sarah can be spotted running around town in a black belted trench coat, flip flops, and jeans. She also enjoys pointy-toed heels, dresses, and the color pink. Sarah has been known to spend hours and hours at the mall before moving onto TJ Maxx. Her favorite way to spend a Friday is to start at the mall bright and early and crash on the couch in the afternoon with a good, sappy chick flick. (In fact, she won’t often admit that she dropped her advertising minor in school so she could have her Fridays completely free.)
Currently, Sarah is faced with the looming threat of “real life” after college. She enjoys knowing being a know-it-all about almost anything (seriously, ask her a question). She blogs when she has a spare minute over at her personal blog, Classy & Fabulous.
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With an Air Force dad, Moriah grew up literally seeing the world. She met her husband in college (they married on graduation day) and has finally sunk down some roots in the Southern US.
She started loving makeup in junior high, and would spend hours sitting on the floor in front of her closet-door mirror experimenting with colors and applying countless coats of (cheap) mascara.
It’s proven to be a lifelong commitment. Although, now with four small children, spending multiple hours in front of a mirror every morning is not exactly possible. Consequently, she’s always on the lookout for time- and money-saving beauty tips.
When she’s not wiping noses or applying mascara, she can often be found noting the humorous moments in her life at her personal blog Please Pass the Salt.
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Cheryl is a 40-something wife of 23 years and counting to a wonderful man and mom to two beautiful daughters.
While still in high school, Cheryl worked at a clothing store at a local mall with a 30- something female manager who told all of her employees, “Every time you step out the door, you make an impression on someone.” That bit of advice has always stuck with her.
To this day Cheryl can not walk out the door with out at least a quick sprinkling of makeup and hair and clothing in decent order. Her moto? “Never leave home without your lipstick on!”
Years of having her daughters play with her hair for relaxation finally paid off when her oldest daughter became a beautician after high school. So now she not only gets lots of free hair tips and advice, but she gets to try out salon products for free or at cost!
Cheryl shares her love of baking, photography, crafting, decorating, and most importantly, a tidy home on her personal blog TidyMom… ramblings in my tidy world.
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Kristin is a 30-something wife, full-time mommy to three, and part time realtor in North Carolina.
Her love of shopping started at a very early age. At the mall with her mom when she was three years old, she was heard proclaiming, “Mother, I MUST have this dress!”
Later on, her bedroom closely resembled the local drugstore, and her dressing table was filled with Sea Breeze, Aquanet, Love’s Baby Soft and 197 scents of lip gloss.
As a high-schooler, she spent a lot of time cheering and dancing at football and basketball games. After observing all of the moms that were continually in the bleachers, it was then she vowed to herself that when she became a mom, she would never, EVER be caught dead in a sweatshirt, turtleneck, and sneakers.
Usually recognized for all her blonde curly hair, she has experimented with almost every hair gel on the planet. She loves a good bargain, and upon receiving a compliment on her clothing, is known to immediately tell where she got it and how much it cost. She truly believes that no matter what a woman’s age or size, there is no reason to be frumpy! She is out to change the world, one sweatshirt at a time.”
When Kristin isn’t out snagging the latest bargain, pouring tea, or avoiding laundry, she can be found blogging at Fill My Cup.
Kellie is a blogger, writer, and mom of six who spends her days plunking away at the keyboard while trying to keep her toddler girl out of the “bad” things… cat food, litter, toilet, etc. With a passion for helping others, she administrates her life-changing blog, Women’s Life Link, and regularly contributes to several other online blogs/magazines. She is a firm believer that the precious moments of life, whether good or bad, should lead to paths of growth and self-discovery. It is through this process that she mentors others. In addition to the insightful advice and encouragement that she presents to her readers, Kellie plans to offer women’s Journey Coaching services (health, wellness, beauty/image consulting, confidence, life-transition) starting in January of 2010.This creative soul has spent her adulthood studying and working at various arts and self-improvement practices, including, interior design, feng shui, creative writing, beauty consulting and make-up artistry, natural health, weight loss counseling, vocal music, song writing, and jewelry making. She is currently seeking representation for her first novel, Unaware, and plans to continue writing in the fiction/thriller genre.* * *
Megan is a transplanted Southern belle living in suburban Chicago with her husband and 3 year old daughter, Bean, and is expecting baby number two in August.
Megan’s affinity for all things drug-store bath-body-and-beauty aisle began back when her Grandmama used to cart her and her big sister and their two cousins down to Lynch’s Drug Store in the Big Blue Bonneville, blasting “Spinnin’ Wheel” by Blood Sweat & Tears, and let them spend up all her money on Sally Hansen’s opalescent purple nail polish and Rose Milk™ Skin Care Cream.
All four girls also used to have a fairly good time in Grandmama’s big green bathroom mixing up batches of a concoction they called “The Cure” out of Noxema, Johnson’s Baby Powder, and Scope, with a little AquaVelva thrown in for good measure. Yes, in retrospect, Megan does recognize that her Grandmama was a saint.
Later in life, while other kids were outside playing kick-the-can and building tree-forts, Megan busied herself designing and creating bottles and labels for her own line of shampoos and conditioners under the brand name “Mother Earth’s Delights” and coercing her BFFs to be the glamorous hair models in carefully-scripted, meticulously-directed television advertisements shot on color slides for her 6th grade photography project.
Sadly, the entire M.E.D product line went the way of Body on Tap, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific, and Short-n-Sassy. But her own early failures in this arena have not put a damper on Megan’s constant drive to try out new inexpensive products that promise to take off the years, impart body and shine, or give her a dazzling white smile. You’ve heard that a sucker’s born every day? Well, I’ve got September 20, 1967 covered.
But after 30-something years of spraying, slathering, smoothing and sudsing, Megan’s actually found some winners, and it’ll be her mission to help you navigate your drug-store’s bath, body, and beauty aisles and come home with a few great, relatively inexpensive products that actually work.
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Leigh Ann is a Midwestern girl who loves living in the South. She’s married to her best friend, and they’re raising two beautiful four-legged princesses. She loves decorating and being crafty. She’s still trying to decide what she wants to do when she grows up. Her home base is The Bird’s Nest.
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