Taking care of your granny whiskers

Dear Home-Ec 101,

Ok, so I don’t know if I’ve just noticed it, or if it is getting darker (is this what aging does to you?!?), but suddenly, I’m noticing fine but dark hair growing on my face. What do I do?! I don’t want to nair it, because that upsets my skin. Can I use peroxide to lighten it or what? Ack!

Thanks,

Ms. Kong

Ivy says:

Ah, the curse of the granny hairs. My mom Someone I know gets them and she totally freaks out about it. Since you said there are several fine hairs, I probably wouldn’t go the tweezers route, as my mom someone I know does.

Fortunately, your girl Ivy is all about dying things on her face (my eyebrows, people! when my hair’s blonde! sheesh!) so I have quite a bit of experience in this. What you need to get is a creme facial bleach. Usually you mix up small bits with the bleach activator and the bleach crystals on a saucer (no metal!!) and then apply to your face and wait the amount of time the package recommends. I’ve always had this work really well on my dark-as-night eyebrows, so I expect it would also work well on your granny hair, too.

You could also try waxing it, but I’m not a huge fan of waxing anything other than eyebrows and legs, heh.

Just as a side note, dark facial hair suddenly cropping up can sometimes mean a hormonal imbalance, so be sure to mention it to your doctor next time you go for a check-up.

Beauty By Ivy: Quick Hair Tip

Ivy says:

No time to wash your hair?  Rub some talcum powder into your hair, then brush it out. It’ll remove smells and help refresh your limp, greasy hair. This also works for those of us that can’t wash their hair every day because it otherwise poofs out like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man.

Beauty By Ivy: 5 best beauty bargains

Ivy says:

Yesterday I wrote about things that were expensive, but worth the bucks. These 5 items are cheap, but super fab. On with the show:

1. E.L.F Clear Mascara. I love clear mascara, but it is typically fairly expensive. Not so with the E.L.F. stuff. It’s a DOLLAR, YO! Now, you might be thinking “You get what you pay for”, but in this case, it’s not so. This stuff is great.

2. Everyday Minerals Free Sample Kit. Everyday Minerals is a mineral foundation like Bare Escentuals, but (in my experience) a better quality and much, much cheaper. Like I said yesterday, I like my tinted moisturizer from BeneFit, but sometimes more coverage is desired. This is when I go for my Everyday Minerals. This sample kit is extremely generous, and is the best beauty bargain I know of. You do have to pay something like 5 or 6 bucks shipping, but it is completely worth it. AND they take PayPal!

3. Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. Great for blackheads and with that nifty minty smell, the Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque is the best thing since sliced bread. It’s about 3 bucks at Sally Beauty Supply. (No, you don’t need a card to shop there. But I did pay 5 bucks to get their discount card, which has saved me hordes of money, since Sally is my fave place to shop other than Sephora)

4. NYX Eyeshadow, any shade. Remember my love for MAC eyeshadows? Yeah, I nearly love these as much, but these are only 5 bucks. Great colors, wonderful texture, I cannot say enough for NYX eyeshadow.

5. Rimmel Volume Boost Liquid Lipcolor. You like plumping lipgloss? So do I. The Rimmel stuff is pretty good. Some plumping lipglosses are PAINFUL but Rimmel’s is not, just a nifty little tingle. The colors are great (pay no attention to what I have linked. Go to the drugstore and see them for yourself) and it has decent staying power.

OK, now that I’ve shared my secrets, let’s hear yours? What are your best beauty bargains?

Beauty By Ivy: 5 products it’s okay to go ahead and spend a few bucks on

Ivy says:

I’d like to have engraved on my headstone:

Here Lies BadBadIvy.
She never paid full price for anything.

There are just 2 small problems with that. The first problem is, I am planning on being cremated because burial is expensive. The second problem is, there are just a few items I will gladly pay full price for, especially in the beauty realm. So I guess I’ll have to have “She rarely paid full price for anything” carved on my cremation urn. It totally lessens the impact, but I’m all about some honesty.

At any rate, here are the 5 must-have beauty items that I will gladly pay full price for:

1. MAC Fluidline. For my eyes, I prefer blacktrack. You might like another color depending on  your eye color and how deep-set your eyes are. Simply put, this is the best eyelining method I have ever found.

It makes a sharp, clean line that can either be smudged or can stay sharp and clean to your preference. It takes a bit of practice- I’ll admit that the learning curve on this is a bit steep- but once you have learned to apply this, you will never want to use another sort of eyeliner again. It will stay on your eyes come hell, high water, or the apocalypse, but does come off easily with my preferred eye makeup-removal method. (later in post)

2. MAC eyeshadow, any color. I promise I don’t work for MAC cosmetics. But their eyeshadow is so fab, it needs to be on this list too. They have wonderful, vibrant colors as well as more muted shades. It has wonderful staying power, and has never done that creasy-thing that several other types of eyeshadow does, even if you don’t use an eyeshadow base.

For blue eyed people like myself, try Saddle. It really makes blue eyes pop!

3. Philosophy Hope In A Tube Eye and Lip cream.  If you’re a sexy young thing with no worries of wrinkles, you can skip this. However, if you’re like me and you’re in your thirties (or older, even- my mom loves this stuff too!) and are beginning to see crow’s feet and laugh lines, get thee some Hope In a Tube. I am convinced it has totally staved off all my signs of aging.

4. Rimmel Gentle Eye Makeup Remover.  Everything else I have mentioned is pretty expensive. This, on the other hand, is not. I’m going to do another post on the best beauty bargains, but the reason this is here is because this is hands down the best eye makeup remover that’s not totally oily.

Remember up there when I said the Fluidline would last through anything? That also includes through most eye makeup removers I’ve tried. I found baby oil will take it off, but it also stings my eyes and is greasy as all get-out. I tried expensive brands, cheap brands, everything. Finally, I tried the Rimmel brand and was totally hooked. It’s not greasy, non-stinging and takes my eye makeup off with just a few swipes.

5. BeneFit Dandelion pink powder. One of my very favorite pastimes is to go to the makeup counters at  department stores and have the ladies show me the types of makeup they think I’d look best in. One day I went in, exhausted, and looking like something a few cats had dragged in. “Girl, you look tired,” the cosmetics lady said. “You need to try this.” She then showed me the thing I had been looking for my whole life. Dandelion.

You just kind of sweep it around your cheeks, jawline, and forehead and lo and behold, you look well-rested. I have no idea how it works, but it really does. I like to apply this with a fan brush, but you can use a fat blush brush as well.

Honorable Mention: Some things are just for people with a certain skin tone, or skin type, etc. The items I listed above should work for just about everyone.  I do have to mention one item that is super, super fab, but is for people with a slightly darker skin tone, like mine. If you are more porcelain and less tan, you won’t want to use this. It’ll make your skin look orange. However:

BeneFit You Rebel Tinted Moisturizer:  I wanted a very light foundation that just smoothed my skin tone and didn’t feel heavy. The counter gal suggested this, and I am so glad she did. It is actually a tinted moisturizer with SPF 15 sum protection. This covers so many bases, it’s not even funny. But it only comes in one color and I’ve seen it get a whole lot of bad reviews on MUA from girls that clearly have a lighter skin tone than I do. So, if you’re darker complected, you’ll definitely want to try this, but if you’re lighter complected, you’ll probably want to steer clear.

Now, I know everything except the Rimmel is expensive. But these are the items that are totally worth it.  If you cut corners on other items (that list coming soon!) you will be able to splurge on these items. You are definitely worth the splurge!

Now, let’s hear it from you: What are your best beauty spurges?!

Beauty by Ivy: Aspirin Mask

Ivy says:

The aspirin mask is pretty well known around the internet, but I still find people who haven’t heard of it, so I thought I would share it here. Aspirin is high in BHA, or beta hydroxy acid- a form of salicylic acid that is in nearly every anti-acne medicine you can buy over the counter. Unlike anti-acne medicine, aspirin is very inexpensive, so by using the aspirin mask, you not only get rid of your acne quickly, but you also save quite a bit of money.

The other nifty thing about the aspirin mask is, it’s quite customizable, so you can add other ingredients depending on your skin type. Pretty much the only people who cannot use aspirin masks are people who are allergic or sensitive to aspirin. You can use an aspirin mask even if you have dry or sensitive skin.

Now, I have combination skin- oily in the T-Zone and normal for the rest of my face. What I do is take 4 or 5 uncoated aspirins, hold them in my hand, and drip water on them until they melt. Then I cover my face with the aspirin and let it dry. I wash it off with my usual cleanser. It makes my pores tighter, and if I’m having a breakout, the breakout goes away with a quickness.

If you have drier or more sensitive skin, you will want to use the aspirin with something that will tone down the aspiriny goodness. Some good things to mix with the aspirin are aloe vera, honey, yogurt, green tea, even heavy whipping cream. When my skin is less oily, I especially like to mix the aspirin with heavy whipping cream, as the cream is high in AHA (alpha hydroxy acid) and it makes a perfect combo of AHA and BHA to make my skin like buttah.

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