My Top 4 Beauty Staples.......

I love beauty products! Since the time I was 5 years old & discovered my mother's red, glossy, lipstick, I've been hooked. I couldn't resist smearing that pretty red gloss all over my lips & feeling a sense of elation that was only bestowed toward Sesame Street & cookies at that wonderful time in my life. Since then, I've discovered many things to feel excited about & cookies still make the list but my love, adoration & sheer excitement for all things beauty has not fizzled out one tiny bit. Yes, I consider myself a connoisseur of beauty products so naturally I have an arsenal of "must-have", "can't-be-without", "no you can't use that even though I have several duplicates" items that I love!

Since I'm such a generous girl, I'll be happy to roll out 5 of my red carpet lovelies just for you.......

1) Clean & Clear Oil Sheets: These are an absolute must for anyone with potato chip on a napkin grease spot oily skin! I didn't always have oily skin but something happened to my hormones at 21 & before I could say "this ID izzz legal" I was covered in oil & acne to rival any puberty stricken kid. Sad thing is, here I am five or six 21st b-day's later & I'm still having the same problem! Luckily, the kind folks at Johnson & Johnson keep pumping out these wonderful blue film sheets to keep the greasies at bay. If you have oil, you gotta get these sheets - period!

2) Ardell Brow & Lash Growth Accelerator: This stuff is pure nirvana! It's cheap, it's convenient & best of all - it works! I get my brows tweezed & waxed once a month by Chicago's best brow artist (& possibly the world's - yes, she's that good). But, I have this weird thing about wanting every brow wax to be like the first brow wax so about a week or two before my next appt. I start to use this stuff! I use it on my brows & on my "used to be" sparse lashes & my brow girl is always tickled at how my brows are a complete before & after evertime she's done with them. Plus, my lashes are now thick, full & mascara ready! Every time! .

3) Essie "Exotic Liras" nail polish - I wear nudes on my nails but gotta have hot color for the pedi's! This is the PERFECT SUMMER COLOR - fresh deep dark pink - looks amazing on tan skin & dark complexions! I love it - can't bring myself to switch after 3 summers!

4) Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Yep, good ole fashioned grocery store purchased Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's the best body moisturizer ever. With the exception of my face, the rest of my skin is pretty dry & lotion just doesn't do the trick soooo I use EVOO on my skin & I swear I could go days without moisturizing if I wanted to & my skin would still be soft without being ashy in the least. After I finish my shower, I smooth EVOO all over before getting out of the shower & wrapping myself in a huge fluffy beach towel. Then, I go about doing my hair & makeup while my skin soaks up the moisture, blot dry the oily spots before getting dressed & voila!