Health & Beauty | Beauty: Products

In my search to find the best beauty aids for you, I have discovered some wonderful gems that were bound to become favorites. The following tips are my holiday gift to you!

When I first heard about Maybelline Pulse Perfection mascara, I laughed. Vibrating wand? How silly! Well, turns out I was silly. This mascara absolutely delivers both volume and definition. The most effective method of applying mascara is to move it back and forth in a sort of sawing motion as you lift to the ends, and Pulse Perfection creates that motion for you. There is minimal smudging and the battery lasts.

Speaking of lashes, I love LashFood and neuLash! These eyelash conditioners absolutely deliver on their claims to grow visibly thicker and longer lashes. The only downside is that once I stopped using them, the growing stopped, too. It is well worth the $120 to $150 per tube, which lasts two months or so, and is a much safer alternative to Latisse, which has that creepy “possible side-effect” of turning one’s irises brown.

I’m not much of a foundation person, so Per-fekt Skin Perfection Gel is actually, yes, “perfect” for me! It smoothes out skin tone and minimizes imperfections, and I love the silky texture. Skin Perfection runs about $60 for 1 oz, but a little goes a long way.

In two columns’ worth of body lotion reviews, the one I did not cover is the one I need to tell you about. Alba Botanica’s Rainforest Cupuaçu Deep Hydration Body Lotion is hypo-allergenic and 100% vegetarian. The scent is spectacular, it nourishes and hydrates, and it is my all-time favorite body lotion. The icing on the cake is that it’s only about $11 for 8 ounces.

Pevonia RS2 Gentle Lotion alcohol-free toner contains green tea, chamomile, guarana and rose oil. It constricts blood vessels and diffuses redness and is particularly effective for rosacea, but left my skin feeling like I could almost (I said almost) do without moisturizer. And it comes in a handy spray bottle. Retail price: $28 for 6.8 oz.

And finally, I cannot live without my Super Solano 3700 Moda Dryer! I don’t know how I survived before it came into my life. This pro tool is slightly heavier than consumer versions, but it is small with a short barrel for easy handling. It’s like speed-drying compared with my last one, and my hair is actually shiny after drying. The results this tool provides is well worth the hefty price tag. Retails for $220.