Show Us Your Life: Beauty Edition

Happy Friday, Blonde Ambitioners! It's snowing here in Northwest Arkansas, but my office is toasty warm. One of my co-workers and I are celebrating our last day in our current office, (we're moving to another part of the building), and our entire department has been partying hard, gorging ourselves on chips, queso, hot tortillas, guacomole, brownies and more ALL MORNING LONG. So good...

Today I'm taking part in Show Us Your Life over at Kelly's Korner and the topic is beauty!

I wanted to share with you guys about some of my personal favorite products for stayin' pretty : ) I'll be the first to admit, I'm a product junkie. In my opinion, a girl can never have too many beauty products in her arsenal.

Let's start with skin:

I love Cindy Crawford's entire Meaningful Beauty line. You've probably seen infomercials for this product line on TV and wondered if it really worked. Let me tell you...from the cleanser and moisterizer, to the anti-aging eye cream and clay mask, everything is miraculous.

I'm also a fan of Sephora's Face 30 line of eye make-up remover disques for washing away hard-to-remove waterproof mascara or eyeliner. It's gentle and totally safe for sensitive skin.

Next, a few of my make-up staples:

NARS makes the best blush on the planet, as I'm sure many of you know. My favorite colors are Amour (peachy pink) and Sin (berry with gold shimmer).

When it comes to lashes, I'm obsessed with Fiberwig mascara, a top-selling mascara in Japan that is now available in the States through Sephora. So what's so great about it? Fiberwig contains real microfibers that help to build your lashes to perfection with every swipe. It's totally smudge-proof and great for contact lense wearers like myself!

We all need a little pick-me-up in the mornings and sometimes, caffeine alone just won't cut it. Enter Smashbox High Definition Concealer. This soft, liquid formula masks dark circles and imperfections, like redness and blemishes. Best of all, it contains soft focus "pearls" that deflect light to minimize the appearance of fine lines. Not that we have those or anything, but...

Some of my favorite products for the body are:

Yves Saint Laurent's new Parisienne fragrance is positively heavenly. It's not too heavy, but the notes of blackberry, damask rose and sandalwood will linger on your skin all day.

For the shower, I like Sexy Little Things Noir Shower Cream from Victoria's Secret. It's a super rich, luxurious formula that won't dry out your skin and the smell is simply divine. You'll definitely feel a bit more sexy after using this product ; )

On my hair, I'm all about Aveda.

I'm not even gonna play, I wreak havoc on my hair. Between the highlights, flat-ironing, blow-drying and teasing, my hair takes a beating on a weekly basis. Aveda to the rescue! I use a combination of the Color Conserve shampoo, which keeps my color fresh between trips to the salon, and the Damage Remedy conditioner, which makes my hair oh-so-soft and shiny.

Finally, for nails I prefer the natural look.

I love Essie polishes, mainly because they don't chip easily and it only takes 1 or 2 coats to cover the nail completely.

My favorite colors, (or non-colors, I guess), are Limo-Scene and Allure.

As far as actual beauty routine goes, I keep it simple. I try to wash my face and moisterize every single night before I go to bed. There's nothing worse than the feeling of day-old mascara caked on your eyes in the morning.

Also, and this is super important, I make sure to go through my make-up bag every month and throw out old products. Make-up and skincare products age and expire just like anything else, so be sure to keep a mental list of what needs to be tossed.

Lastly, I always use a foundation brush versus a sponge or cosmetic wedge. Sponges soak up tons of icky bacteria, which can result in breakouts (yikes!) Be sure to wash your foundation brush at least once a week with a mild shampoo or soap to squelch any residing germs.

Got any winning beauty tips or make-up advice? Hop on over to Kelly's and play along!

Alright, I guess that about wraps it up. Have a great weekend and I'll be seeing you guys Monday!