This year, I’ve noticed some abundance in my life.

And abundance of WRINKLES.

I guess it’s to be expected, being 35 and all. But that doesn’t mean I like it!

I’ve never spent much time or money on my skin. I’m not sure if that’s the cause of the pesky under eye wrinkles that I’m trying not to make friends with, or if it’s just plain age.

Either way, I decided a few months ago to spend some money on a decent eye cream. I’ve used the Burt’s Bees eye cream, and although it kept my eye area moist, it didn’t help wrinkles. I’ve tried a few department store brands too. At Walgreens one day, I saw the Olay Professional Pro-X line. On impulse, I shelled out over $60 (on sale) and hoped for a miracle.

The started kit I purchased came with three things: an eye cream, a day time moisturizer (age repair lotion with spf 30) and a wrinkle smoothing cream to be used at night. The daytime cream has sunblock in it, and I don’t love the smell. It feels nice, but I don’t love it.  I’ve ended up using the evening cream all the time, both morning and night. The eye cream has a nice texture, no smell, and doesn’t run under my makeup.

Overall, I’ve been pretty impressed. I do feel like my eye area looks a little bit better, bu no miracles have happened as of yet. I’ll buy the eye cream and the wrinkle smoothing cream again, but not the day time age repair.

If you’re looking for a nice wrinkle cream (with no miracles), then try this new line. Amazon has the starter kit for only $46.63, which is $20 less than I paid at Walgreens.

My friend, who happens to be a Mary Kay Director, invited me to be a model for a demonstration of the new Spring colors and several other MK newbies.  As always, I enjoy her company and, of course, I love to try out new trends and breakthrough skin care.  I took along a good friend that evening and made it a “girl’s night out” for the two of us.

Among the tantalizing Spring products are two new cheek glazes, tangerine and pomegranate ($16.00), several new lip nectars, Mango, Coconut, and passion fruit ($13.00), and my favorite, the limited edition Creme Highlighter ($14.00).  I was supplied with not only the opportunity to try these products at the demo meeting but was given several complimentary samples to use at home.

I’m really enjoying the Cheek Glaze, as it goes on smoothly and lasts for most of the day (as long as I don’t touch my face too much).  The natural “blush” it gives is just the thing for the upcoming softer, feminine trends in fashion and makeup.  As with the Cheek Glaze, the Lip Nectar offers a soft addition to your warmer weather makeup palette.  The Coconut especially is one that varies in tone depending on your own lip color.  It was interesting to see how different it looked on everyone who tried it that night.  Being able to try-before-you-buy has always been a benefit to buying cosmetics through Mary Kay’s independent beauty consultants.

The product that impressed me the most was the Creme Highlighter. I’m always looking for an eyeshadow, blush, or luminous bronzer type product to highlight various areas on my face and shoulders.  Well, I think I found it in this Mary Kay limited edition!  That night I used it in my brow bone area and the inner corners of my eyes and found it to create just the right amount of shimmer and light reflection without looking cheap or “teenager-ish”.

A Couple More Impressive Items

I also wanted to let you know that the eye shadows go on smooth as silk but even more so with the addition of their Eye Primer ($12.00).  I have never been a primer user, but after experiencing the difference in application and wearability, I think I’ve been converted.

I was also given a nice sized sample of the Time Wise® Replenishing Serum+C. I’ve added to my regular skin care regimen for a couple of weeks now and have felt a distinctive toning of the lax areas of my face (you know those small crepey lines that drive you crazy).  Now, keep in mind, I am a serum user, so this is a necessary beauty item that you won’t find me without.  I’ve used some really goods, too.  So far the MK has not let me down.  We’ll see how it does as I continue to use up my free sample. Cheers to all you chic ladies out there!

If you would like more information about the new Spring colors or any other Mary Kay product, please visit Paula Kirkpatrick online at her wonderful Mary Kay site. if you don’t have your own consultant.

Neither Chic Critique nor any of its associates accepted any monetary revenue to review the above mentioned products.  It is an honest opinion portrayed as a resource of information for readers.

Photo by dibrova

I love trying new beauty products. It’s fun, and sometimes I end up finding things that I really love. Sometimes I use them till they are gone, and don’t rebuy them

My makeup bag has many things I really love. And a few that I like ok, but don’t love. When I bared the contents of my makeup bag a few weeks ago, I had a few questions about the Burt’s Bees Royal Jelly Eye Creme.

I’ve used it for a few months, and I don’t really love it. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE me some Burt’s Bees. And I love the idea of using something with natural ingredients around the delicate eye tissue. It has a grassy kind of smell. I thought there might be cucumbers in it when I first smelled it. (But there aren’t.)  Here’s what the Burt’s Bees website has to say:

“Royal jelly, which is fed to the queen bee to extend her life, is packed with 134 nutrients, including 17 amino acids, B-vitamins and vitamins A, C, D and K. Here, it’s blended with rich beeswax, soothing aloe vera gel, apricot kernel oil and vitamin E to create a nourishing cream that minimizes the appearance of fine lines and reduces puffiness in the delicate skin around your eyes.”

The Royal Jelly Eye Creme is SUPER moist, almost a little oily. After trying it morning and evening, I found that I could only use it at night. It doesn’t completely absorb into the skin, so applying it in the morning and then expecting my makeup to stay put would be almost impossible. As a matter of fact, after applying it before bed, there would still be a little oiliness and moisture left when I woke up in the morning. What this product is good for is keeping the skin around the eyes moisturized at night. Sadly, that’s about it. I found that it didn’t do anything for puffiness, dark circles or wrinkles.

If you’re looking for an excellent night moisturizer for your eyes, I’d absolutely recommend this eye creme. If you need a little help with those sneaky wrinkles like I do, then this probably isn’t the product for you.

Though my beloved Colts lost the Superbowl last night (tear), I’m ready for another week of blogging and caring for my children, and I’m doing it looking younger than I thought possible.  How’s that, Kellie?  You ask.  I have been using a phenomenal anti-aging tool called a Galvanic Spa.  Ever heard of it?  Well, I hadn’t until last year.  The concept is not new; in fact, the discovery that led to the technique we use today was found in 1791 by a man named Luigi Galvani.  Furthermore, spas and estheticians have been using galvanic therapy on their clients for years.  So why is it relatively unheard of?  Until the Nuskin company came out with it’s portable Galvanic Spa II, you had to go to a high-priced spa or clinic to get the treatments. 

What Does It Do?

The hand held Galvanic Spa II works to improve skin clarity, elasticity, tone, and overall skin and hair health by the theory that like charges oppose each other and opposites attract – similar to magnetic poles.  The gentle currents actually help any products you use work better by pushing them into the skin and facilitating key ingredients.

It’s Easy and Fun

The process to do my face and neck takes about 10 minutes a few times a week – not a lot of time for the superior benefits it gives.  I also use it on my stomach and the back of my arms – both areas that need some help.  And my jaw dropped the first time I compared the arm I did to the other one!  It tightened my skin in that area enough to visibly see the difference.  Immediate results are more than fun, they initiate the happy dance!  Unfortunately, I did not take photos otherwise I would have shared them with you.  But here are some before and after photos from the Nuskin website:

I find these photos amazing!  The thing is, I probably would have found them hard to believe if I hadn’t had my own stunning results with the Galvanic Spa II. 

Even doggies need a little help with aging.

                  Just Kidding!!!!!!

You can get your own Galvanic and tons more information from Jeffrie Ann Hall (a friend of mine).  And, no, I wasn’t paid to say all these wonderful things about the Nuskin products; I just love what it does and think every woman needs the opportunity to try it for themselves.

Photo by LadyOfVelvet

Hi! I’m Kristin. I’m a shopping obsessed mom of three and part-time Realtor in North Carolina. I enjoy blogging here at Chic Critique every other Thursday, and you can also find me here.

I love beauty products, but I don’t love spending a lot of money on them. Since I love trying new things, the cosmetics in my bag are constantly changing. Even my actual bag is constantly changing.

Here’s the bag I recently switched to. Nice and roomy, and I only paid a few dollars for it at Ross. (Dontcha just LOVE Ross??)

Here’s the one I was using before that. It was a freebie from Clinique. They give away the cutest bags!

Before that, it was a cute little red Vera Bradley bag.

I’ll admit, when I told my husband that I was about to snap pictures of my make -up, he asked, “Are you SURE you want to take pictures of that?” He was right. So I will tell you that yes, I did clean my stuff up before showing you!

And now for the cast of characters:

Noah’s Naturals Milk Cleanser face wash.

Clinique’s Dramatically Different moisturizer. I wait until Clinique has their free gifts to buy other products, and I seem to never run out of the moisturizer from the free giveaways!

Burt’s Bees Royal Jelly Eye Creme

Burt’s Bees Naturally Ageless Intensive Repairing Serum

Burt’s Bees Cuticle Cream and Hand Salve. I like to rub these in while I’m doing make-up. My hands and nails always seem so dry after a shower.

Almay PureBlends liquid makeup in neutral. I love this stuff.

Neutrogena loose powder.

Clinique’s Quick Eyes in Sparkling Nude and Lucky Penny. LOVE this stuff. I wasn’t going to buy it again until this summer, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s become a permanent fixture in my bag!

Clinique eyeshadows, #101, Teddy Bear. I really only use the two darker colors.

L’oreal Pencil Perfect eyeliners. Right now I’ve got Jade and Cocoa. They are my favorite brand.

Maybelline Expert Wear brow pencil in Blonde. The very best brow pencil for us fair gals with blonde brows!

Clinique Blushwear Cream Stick in #03, Rosy Blush.

MAC powder blush in Mocha Matte. This stuff lasts FOREVER!

L’oreal Voluminous mascara, which has always been my go-to mascara. I still love it, but a a month ago I tried…

Another L’oreal mascara in a big, fat black tube. And I have no idea what it’s called, but I love it bestest of all, and I’ll be buying it for a long, long time. Dying to know what it’s called? Stay on the edge of your seats. I’ll post again about it real soon!

Clinique lipsticks in Spiced Cider and Tenderheart

L’oreal lipstick in #250, Make Me Blush.

It feels wonderful to look beautiful, but no routine would be complete without smelling beautiful. This is the perfume I will heart forever.  I wear it every day……. Kenneth Cole Reaction.

And there you have it – I’ve revealed all. What’s in YOUR bag?

Good Morning, Sunshine. How did you sleep?

This is your Chic Critique Mama, coming to straighten you out on… pretty much anything and everything. Aren’t moms supposed to have all the answers? (Or at least pretend to?)

I am a 53 y/o mom of many — with a few out of the nest and plenty more still sitting in the nest, wide-mouthed and waiting to be fed. I was asked to be a contributor to this beauty/fashion blog, not because of my exemplary use of make-up, nor my distinctive fashion style.

No, I can say with assurance that I was chosen for my age. I’m trying to look at it as a Senior Perk — along with the Goodwill discount I get on Tuesdays, and a cheaper breakfast at Denny’s.

So, I plan on using this space to do what all aged women do. Pass on wisdom… Mostly learned through mistakes. Kind of like a “Wish I had done THIS” column. And occasionally a “So Wish I had NOT done this” post.

Isn’t it great when you can learn from another’s mistakes?

Be honest with me, girls. Don’t you wish you could have all the money back that you spent on beauty products bought on impulse (that didn’t work) or clothes you purchased that didn’t fit quite right… but were on sale?

Mom to the rescue. Your own Mom has probably already told you what you’ll read every other week in this column, but maybe you’ll listen this time! And like a wise parent, I’m not going to make this lecture too long or you’ll start to tune me out.

My life-altering, clever, enlightening piece of beauty advice is this:

Moisturize your neck.

This may not sound like cutting-edge beauty advice, but I can’t remember hearing much about caring for the neck when I was younger. Maybe it was hidden somewhere in an AARP brochure and I never saw it — but suddenly in my mid-40’s, although my face was still nice and supple, my neck started looking like a google map of downtown Atlanta (I can see at least eight lanes intersecting!)

Definitely moisturize your face — eat right, exercise, and drink plenty of water — but don’t forget to slather some of that cream on your neck.

You’re welcome, honey.

Oh goodness. Here I go again talking about something that is probably inappropriate for a blog. I do that sometimes. If I offend anyone, I am so sorry. I have to tell you about what I have discovered, though.

For years, I have read in beauty magazines about using hemorrhoid product around your eyes. My sister talked me into giving it a shot. Do you remember the days when you were too embarrassed to buy feminine products and you made your mother buy them for you? Well, it’s kinda the same. Swallow your pride, ladies. Put that butt ointment in the buggy and head to the register. Everything is bar coded now…no one is going to be calling out for a price check on the butt ointment over the loudspeaker. Anyway, I bought the generic version of the ointment, which saved me about $6.00 to $7.00. Don’t buy the cream…it needs to be the ointment.

I slathered that ointment under and around my eyes. Holy smokes batman!! I don’t really think I will question the butt ointment making people as to how, but it works!! My bags and fine lines looked smoothed out and the dark circles were improved. Eye product for $2.98? I love it!!

I have been using my ointment for a couple of weeks now. I use it under my makeup in the morning, and put it on at night before I go to bed. I don’t know if this will change the fine lines, bags or dark circles over time, but it does a temporary fix. Pretty good for a $2.98 tube that will last me months. Like I said before, swallow your pride ladies and go git ‘ya some!!

"I’ll take the botox cream, thank you." Always a sucker for trying something new, I attended a skincare demonstration party held by a friend.

You know you’ve been there. You want to be nice, you don’t have money to spend on ANYTHING, but you want to show support and buy SOMETHING. Okay, you may have more self-control than I do, but now I have botox cream, specifically the new Insta-tox essentials by Seriesse International, a temporary facial-firming wrinkle smoothing serum that targets areas of the face and lasts about seven hours.

So, in my renewed commitment to frugality, I was determined to use what I have (because I am AWFUL at returning things) so I overcame my fears of what this social experiment might do to my face and went to a friend’s (THANK YOU, Jo-Lynne, for the moral support) where we both applied a light layer as directed around the fine lines of our eyes, mouth, and forehead.

Now, you might wonder why we would do such a crazy thing but check it out: (WE’RE NOT ALONE)

According to Plastic Surgery Network:

Of the 8.79 million cosmetic procedures completed in the year 2003, about 7 million of them were minimally invasive, non-surgical procedures. The number one rank belongs to Botox injections. Since 2000, the number of Botox users rose almost 300%, and numbered 2.8 million. Trailing behind Botox in the non-invasive category were chemical peels and microdermabrasion (both with almost a million patients). Other popular choices for non-surgical procedures were laser hair removal and collagen injection with over half a million each.

This little tube of cream looked pretty economical at $30 versus injections and other costly age defying measures, but, you must be wondering, did it work?

Both Jo-Lynne and I applied it to one side of our face to see if we could notice a difference. The skin definitely plumped up a little after the required 3 minutes of keeping our faces still (a truly impossible task), giving our cheekbones some lift. But, either I didn’t apply enough or I just don’t have the right kind of wrinkles that are helped by this superficial treatment. See below (my left/your right is where the cream was applied around my eyes, forehead, and lips):

Overall, I would have to recommend you save your money on this particular product and stick with Dr. Jessica Wu’s 3 Easy Steps to Beautiful Skin:
(Click on the link to see her product suggestions for each step).

1: Use a Gentle Cleanser for Morning and Night.
2: Invest in a Moisturizing Sunscreen that Protects against UVA and UVB rays.
3. Use a Treatment Product Every Night, Specific to a Skin Issue You Want to Combat.

She also gives this clever tip:

"Curl your tongue upwards to touch the roof of your mouth, as far back
as you can reach. Then press upwards and hold for three seconds. Repeat
10 times."

"This workout," says Wu, "strengthens the deep muscles in your jaw and neck to help fight gravity and drooping."

Thank You, Dr. Wu.

To be fair, Seriesse does have some other great targeted skincare products you may want to try and let me know what you think!

FRUGAL BEAUTY TIP: (and note to self) Learn how to return.

Now, what are you doing to preserve that epidermal layer of yours?

Sarah blogs regularily at Genesis Moments and is a featured story teller at Story of My Life.

Boswellia.  Small European duchy or tree resin with multiple medicinal uses that may have been the original source of frankincense?

Yeah, me too.  But it’s not.  A duchy, I mean.  It’s tree resin.  And it’s purty darn good stuff, in my estimation.

My Saturday strolls around the Walgreen’s store, while the husband picks up his prescriptions and the daughter locates the Can’t Touch This musical birthday card and does her best M.C. Hammer impression right there next to the Liquid Plumr™ display, always end in my buying a new beauty product to review for y’all here on Chic Critique.   It’s funny, too, because Al always does the whole check-out and pay thing for us, and then we all walk out to the car together and he sits in the driver’s seat all quiet and pondering, scratching his head, and then he reaches for our bag of loot and scrutinizes the receipt carefully. 

"What’s wrong, hon?"

"I think they must have our insurance information wrong in the computer again." 

"Why?"

"That cost way more than it should have."

"Gulp.  That eye cream I bought cost $20."

(Holding up a minuscule pot of eye cream.) "THIS?  This cost $20?"

"Yeah, but if it works, I might feel sexy again."

(Getting back out of the car) "Well then I think we need a bigger jar!"

I know.  MEN! 

But you have to give me credit for having gotten his number, right?

So I bought some eye cream.  L’Oreal’s® Dermo-Expertise Wrinkle De-Crease (har har) Eye, to be exact. 

Eye’ve been using it for 4 days and DANG if I am not ACTUALLY seeing some difference already in the skin around my eyes. 

And that is GREAT news, because listen to this:

(The print on the box is so tiny that I’m re-wrinkling myself trying to decipher it, so bear with me if this comes out wrong.)

The L’Oreal Laboratories have created WRINKLE DE-CREASE EYE, with Boswelox™, to visibly help correct expression lines and crow’s feet around the eyes.

Multi-Action Benefits

Intensive anti-wrinkle action

• 63% of women saw wrinkle contours smoothed in 4 weeks.
• Softens expression lines and fine lines so that skin around the eyes looks younger and smoother
• Deeply and continually hydrates the delicate eye area without greasiness

Sixty-three per cent, huh?  And in FOUR WEEKS? 

But, still, I thought, my eyes have been lookin’ a little extra wrinkly with this pregnancy (all the wincing and grimacing from the heartburn and the hip aches, I suspect), so why not give it a whirl? 

I applied the eye cream nights and mornings as instructed and sat back to see if this magical Boswelox™, "a breakthrough phyto-complex, combining a concentrated dose of boswellia extract and manganese," would make me a 63% winner or a 27% fool.  I figured I’d have awhile to wait before I saw any results, so I toyed with the idea of reviewing Nutella this week, a chocolaty, hazelnutty spread that smooths out many wrinkles without actually ever touching my skin, except on accident when I toss the spoon aside and just stick my tongue directly in the jar.  It IS that good. 

But long about day #2, I began noticing my little squinty-lookin’ crevices fading.  And yesterday they were less visible, and today?  Well, if my eye area looks this good after 4 days, I can’t wait to see what four WEEKS will do.  I’m gonna be smooth as glass and look about 24 years old again.  Will I feel sexy, though? 

I’m 8 months pregnant – what do YOU think? 

If y’all want to play the odds, I can say with 63% certainty you’ll be pleased with your results.   

What do you think it means that I have a large, deep frown line between my eyebrows and no laugh lines to speak of? Cranky much?

They say wrinkles come from repeating the same expression over and over, which is similar to the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. You haven’t heard that? Perhaps that was only in my house. Did I mention my mother is a therapist?).

I have just spent the last half hour trying to find you a picture of me from when I am four, and I am all dressed up in a princess costume and giant pumps, and I am frown frown frowning. But just trust me. I have been a crabby princess all my life. Hence that I am now 42 and three-quarters and I have a ditch between my eyebrows.

I want you to know that I have tried drastic measures to fix this condition, and since I lived in LA, yes, I tried these things in a doctor’s office. First I tried collagen in my forehead. My forehead turned black. I am not kidding you. Turns out I am allergic to collagen or something.

Not to be dissuaded, I thought, well, if I am allergic to cow fat, why not see how I react to rat poison? So yes, two or three times I had Botox injections, and to tell you the truth, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Yes, my forehead was completely paralyzed, but the wrinkle was still there. So maybe if I’d have started getting Botox at age four, during the princess-dress era. Gee, I wish I could find that dang photo.

Since plastic surgery doesn’t seem to work for me, I went on to try Frownies. Renee Russo swears by them, and look at her. She looks good. I find it hard to believe all she does is buy Frownies, but okay.

Frownies have been around since 1889. Yes, EIGHTEEN eighty-nine. They are little pads that you moisten and stick on your wrinkle for a minimum of three hours. (They have pads for laugh lines around your eyes and mouth, too, for those of you who have actually been cheerful in this life.)

Now, obviously, you’d probably want to put on your Frownies at night, but whatever. Maybe you want to go to work with a brown paper patch on your face. Go to it, I say.

You can moisten the pads with water, or you can also buy their hydrator spray. Which of course I did, because it’s important that I fall for everything on earth and that I spend as much money as possible on beauty products. The two products can be purchased for $30 as a set, or $20 a piece. And, most important, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Now, what Frownies claims is that by putting this paper on your frown lines, you train your muscles to regain the strength they have lost. The spray claims to rehydrate the skin.

I have no idea if what they say is true, but I can tell you that if you actually remember to put the Frownie pad on each night, it does really seem to make a difference. The only drawback is that it’s yet another step in your nighttime regime, which for me sometimes consists of kicking off my shoes before I fall into bed. I guess your motivation will depend on how badly you want that Suez Canal gone from your face.

I found my first box of Frownies at a pharmacy in Beverly Hills. But my mother found the pads and hydrator for me in Vermont Country Store Catalog, or maybe it was Soft Surroundings catalog. Also, they can be found at Whole Foods Market. I am just saying, they aren’t that hard to find. Plus, on Frownies’ website, you type in your city and state and they’ll give you a store locater. So, frown no more, little crabby princess! Really, finding that photo would have made this post so much better…

P.S. Guess what I FOUND?!?!

P.P.S.  This is dcrmom, with breaking news.  Okay, so maybe it’s not breaking.  Frownies can also be purchased at drugstore.com, which is one of our affiliates.  If you purchase at drugstore.com through a link on our site, we earn like two cents or something.  But it adds up, and we certainly appreciate your support!