the makeup/beauty products that changed MRM's life

In the makeup world, beauty products that change your life are considered especially important. In MRM's makeup bag, they are represented by the following items. These are their stories.

I've mentioned on here before that despite the fact that I don't wear a lot of makeup and still can't even put on eyeliner correctly, I seem to have more makeup than the average 25-year-old girl. In fact, I have more than some small Sephora stores. KMH can attest to the fact that letting me loose inside of a Sephora can be a very dangerous thing. I thought I would do a post to share with you some of the products that I absolutely cannot live without.

1) Clarisonic Brush

I cannot say enough about this brush. I've mentioned in a previous post just how in love I am with my brush. I had wanted this brush for a while, but had a hard time justifying the $195 price tag. When I had $165 in gift cards to Sephora, I decided to buy it to try it out. Since then, I have fallen in brush love. I have definitely noticed a difference from using it, and if I go away and don't take it with me, after several days, my face starts to feel dirty. If you can afford to get one, do it. Your face will thank me.

2) Benefit Boo Boo Zap

I am one of those girls who was blessed with good skin. I am one of the only girls I know who managed to get through those awkward teenage years without having to worry about pimples. (Of course, I did have plenty of other things to worry about, but that's neither here nor there...) Of course, what this means, is that now that I am older, every time I get even the tiniest hint of a pimple, I automatically go into panic mode because I just don't know how to deal with them. It was on one such day that I frantically ran into Sephora on the verge of tears begging the saleslady to give me something that would get rid of my pimple. When she responded with "what pimple?," I thought she was crazy. How could she not see what was going on on my face? In any case, she led me to the Benefit counter and gave me a little tube of this wonderliquid. I have seen similar acne products, but nothing that works quite as well as this, in quite so little time. Bonus points for the fact that it does not sting at all. Since then, I always carry a tube of this on me, just in case.

3) Perfekt Liquid Foundation

To reiterate #2, I have very good skin. This means that I don't want to wear a heavy foundation that clogs up my pores. I hate the feeling of having a lot of makeup on my skin. This is why I don't wear it a lot. On one of my many trips to Sephora "just to look around," I discovered this little wonder. It is a gel foundation. You put a little dab on your finger or a sponge, and rub it into your skin. It is so light and airy that you don't feel like you're wearing anything, yet your skin instantly feels smoother and silkier to the touch. And looks softer/smoother as well. It comes in several shades, and is so light that you can wear a darker shade to get a hint of color without looking completely fake baked. Bonus points, it also comes in a smaller, TSA-friendly, 0.25 oz. size.

4) Imju Fiberwig Mascara

This is where you all start gasping ladies: I hate wearing mascara. I love the way it looks on me, but for some reason it hurts my eyelashes. By the end of the day I am annoyed and irritated and cannot wait to go home and take it off. I have tried every single brand of mascara known to man to see if I can get around this. Drugstore brand, higher-end brand, hypoallergenic, all natural, etc. And this was the only thing I found that doesn't make my eyelashes hate me. Another problem that I seem to have with mascara is that whenever I try to take it off, no matter what, I cannot get all of it off and inevitably look like a raccoon the next morning. Not only does this wonder mascara not irritate my eyes, but it also completely washes off in cool little rubbery clumps without smearing all over your face. No eye makeup remover required. Just warm water. How cool is that?

5) Dior Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen

Despite the fact that I was blessed with perfect skin, one thing that I was not blessed with, is a lack of undereye circles. I have very fair skin with dark hair and even darker undereye circles. I've sometimes wondered if I'm the secret love child of Snow White and Rocky Raccoon. A sorority sister showed me this in Sephora, and since then, I cannot go anywhere without it. It conceals undereye circles and reflects light to make them appear lighter. Amazing product. I cannot stress enough how much I love it.

6) Sephora Brand Makeup Eraser Pen

The most ingenious invention ever! This pen is fantastic to get rid of any mascara dots that may form around your eyes or any other makeup mishaps so that you don't have to start all over. Every girl needs to have one of these in her makeup bag

And I'm back!

I got a worried text message from one of my sisters this morning telling me "it's 11am, why haven't you blogged yet? is everything ok?" I didn't think I was that addicted to blogspot. Apparently I am. Good to know. I hope everyone had a lovely Easter/Passover. Mine was fairly uneventful. I discovered that I lost more weight, which motivated me to work out a lot more. A lot more. It's ok, it's not like I needed to lift my arms over my head for any reason whatsoever. Logged in a bunch of phone time with TLS once again. He's becoming British Telecom's favorite person. Sunday night, two of my guy friends came for dinner as arranged. I made charoset cake with zabaglione sauce for dessert, and I have to say that it was amazing. I would eat this even if it wasn't Passover. Considering the first ingredient in it is matzah, which I hate, that says a lot. I was going to make matzah fried chicken from one of Martha Stewart's Passover recipes, and all I have to say is that Martha owes me an hour of my life, a box of matzah, and a 4 pack of chicken breasts. It was so gross. The matzah burned quickly while the chicken was completely uncooked on the inside. Thankfully, I had extra, unused chicken breasts, so I just threw the gross ones out and make grilled chicken with mustard and mayo with some help from the boys. That was good. So was the wine they brought. As I've mentioned on here before, I really do not fit in to the Russian Jewish community here at all and don't really socialize within that circle. I've lived here for over 18 years, and aside from the blonde ponytail and the cheerleading uniform, I'm as American as apple pie. One problem that I have with Russian people is their need to know everything about your life. There are certain things that I will not share. I don't talk about money. Unless we are moving in together or something like that, there is no good reason for you to ask me how much I make or what my rent is. (If you are looking to move to my neighborhood and want to see what my rent is to gage if you can afford to live here or not, then that is another story.) The two guys who came over last night are both Russian. During dinner, one of them told me that he really likes my apartment (I managed to find the only studio in Brooklyn with a walk in closet and a built in bar) and asked me if I mind telling him what I pay a month in rent for my place. To which I responded with my usual "yes, actually, I do mind." Then he told me that I was being rude and that it's not a personal question. Umm seriously? You're a guest in my house. I made you dinner. If I don't want to tell, then I don't want to tell. It's my business. Ladies, was I really being rude or am I right about this one?

Tonight, I have another date with the boy anomaly/not-boyfriend also known as J. He has been planning this for a few weeks and asked me like 50 times if I'm 100% sure I'm free tonight. He won't tell me what we're doing and says that it's a surprise, but I'm almost positive I know what it is, which excites me greatly. I'm wearing my white Lilly swiss dot Kelly shirt, black Revas, grey trouser jeans from Ann Taylor Loft (dressy enough that no one at work can tell I'm wearking jeans and I pass the dress code!), and a beige Tory jacket. I'm so excited for tonight. I have to stop by Sephora first to return a mascara that my mother got me. The only brand I wear is Fiberwig and they recently came out with this for your lower lashes:

The Tiny Sniper, $15. I saw an ad for this and was intrigued. Has anyone tried this? I don't know if I would ordinarily spend $15 on such a small tube, but being that I have the one that my mother got me, I may exchange it for this one if the Sephora I'm going to has one. Expect a review tomorrow morning.