Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your family an Electric Christmas!
XOXO,
The Glambo Family

On the 12th Day of Christmas...

I took some time for a ...

MAC-over!  I took a good hour and had one of the pros at my local Nordstrom MAC counter make me over.  This was a perfect Christmas Gift-to-self.  The awesome pro that helped me, Josey, really knew her stuff, and was eager to share tons of information and new products.

I opted for a full MAC'd-out eye, with the glam false lashes and all the works.  I felt so pretty, and came home with all of the MAC goodies I need to replicate this eye at home for a proper Holiday Evening out (New Year's Eve, perhaps?).

The folks at the MAC counter ask that you commit to spending $50 when you have them do your makeup (and trust me, I spent more), but there are so many great products to choose from that you'll be sure to find something you love to take home. 

This Christmas, be sure to do something nice for yourself, too.

On the 11th Day of Christmas...

My BFF gave to me...

                                                                                                                                                                              

                          
A Three pack of eos Lipbalm! 
 
Everyone knows, we are big fans of eos Lip Balm because they really do make our lips soft, and they contain no Gluten, Paraben, Petrolatum or Phthalate.
 
This set contains Strawberry Sorbet, Sweet Mint and Passion Fruit, they are made with 100% Natural ingredients, with great conditioners like Shea Butter and Vitamin E, they are sure to combat this dry winter air and prime my pucker for much Holiday Smooching! 
 
This would make an awesome stocking stuffer, too.

On the 10th Day of Christmas

Benefit brought to me... a skincare intro kit to place under the tree.

If you're looking for a 'little something' any girl can use, Benefit has economical options. Their b.right! Radiant Skincare comes packaged in three and six piece sets. Starting at just $12 US, these trial sizes are sure to fit any elf's budget and will be appreciated by the lucky gift recipient.

On the 9th Day of Christmas

We went shopping for our tweens!

If you need to shop for a 10-12 year old in your life, but aren’t sure what to get, the Glambo Girls have you covered. Here are the hottest items sure to invoke joy in the pickiest of tweens.

1) Shop at Justice.

This store is a tween shopping paradise and is sure to have something that any tween-age girl would love. Not sure what size, color or style to buy? A gift card from Justice would definitely be appreciated.

2) Nail Art Supplies.

Simple nails painted in one color are so last year. Girls love to show their individuality with nail art and two-toned nails. Shatter and Crackle nail polishes are sure to be a hit, as are decals, striping polishes, rhinestones and anything that a tween can use to get creative. Head to your local beauty supply or even the Sally Hansen section of the drug store for a great gift or stocking stuffer.


3) Anything Cupcake.

This trend has been around for a while, but is still going strong. Cupcakes are cool on jewelry, clothing, and even bedding and school supplies. The Glambo Girls prefer eating the real ones, but the cupcake patterns are fun and cute in the tween world.




4) Mis-matched socks.

Yes, you read that correctly. The trend is to wear the same style of sock in different colors and patterns. Some stores, like these featured from Justice, even sell them in three packs. So, if you need a little something for a stocking or under the tree, go for the 'mix, not match' sock set. Your tween will love them!

Happy Shopping!

The Glambo Girls

On the 8th Day of Christmas

I'm happy to report...

I got my Christmas Cards out in the mail!  Hope they get there in time.

On the 7th Day of Christmas

I spied under the tree...

 

The Much Mistletoeing™ Lip Shine Set by Philosophy! 
With awesome scents, flavors and a shine-boost for your pucker, you can do a Mistletoe Marathon!  Get your set at Sephora for a mere 20 Bucks!

On the 6th Day of Christmas...

I thought I'd like to try...

The Best of the Best minis by OPI.  This awesome little collection is sold at Ulta for 24.95.  It's sure to keep your digits looking fabulous all season long.

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

I know I've got to wear

Goody Spin Pins in my hair!
For all those great updos we'll be wearing this Holiday Season, and even just to get my hair off my neck while I'm wrapping presents and baking cookies, the Spin Pin is just what this Santa's Elf ordered.

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

We found a perfect buy:

Smashbox Brow Tech & Cream Eye Liner Palette is a handy little compact chock with eye-enhancing goodies:

  Brow Tech Wax in Taupe, Brunette & Blonde

and

(A Glambo Fave) Cream Eye Liner in Image, Thunder, Putty, Caviar, Picasso, Midnight Brown
 
 It's a $22 value you can get online at Sephora for only 9 Bucks!!  Talk about
 Stocking Stuffer Perfection!



On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

I must have for sure...

A COOL Sephora Magnetic Manicure!

This is one of the most fun stocking stuffers we've seen yet.  You paint your nails with this magnetic polish by Nails Inc, London, sold at Sephora, retailing for $16 each.  The lacquer contains metallic bits, and right after you apply your 2nd coat, you hold the top of the bottle, which contains a magnet, over the nail for several seconds, and it draws the metal bits into a cool design.  The colors (chrome, teal, or purple) are edgy, and it is fun in a nerdy Museum of Hands-On-Science kind of way!

See the Demo Below

On the 2nd Day of Christmas...

My true love got me...

Naked under the tree!!
Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow Palette, that is.  It would be nice to get this version while you can, because Urban Decay is introducing their Naked2 Palette as we speak, so will #1 be going away??.  It retails for $48, whether you buy it online from Ulta or Sephora. And be sure to get money back from your purchase by signing up for Ebates on our site, then shopping through Ebates to get your BIG FAT rebate CHECK!

PS. If you're looking for Urban Decay's NAKED2 Palette, which contains 5 new fabulous eyeshadow shades, get over to Urban Decay's website.  They're available for $50

On the 1st Day of Christmas

My True love bought for me...

A Clairsonic Jaguar Mia!!

We all know that the Clairsonic is a great way to get squeaky clean skin, and the cleaner the skin, the more effective the beauty treatments applied afterward will be.  We love our Clairsonics and wouldn't trade them for anything...except maybe the new designs...like the Jaguar!  We are loving this, and if Santa Baby could swing one if these for the Glambo Fishnet Stocking, we would be so happy.  It certainly beats the white version!  You can order one from Sephora for $129 today!

OPI - Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, Muppets Collection

Our review of OPI's Muppets Collection continues with this pretty, sparkling red. Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is the ultimate color for Christmas, but don't forget about it for Valentine's Day too. It's sure to attract many compliments.

The Star of the Show.

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It has a clear base, and is infused with a fine, red glitter. Add to that red and silver discs, and you have one gorgeous nail polish! It's popular, and was out of stock at a few stores. If you can't find it on it's own, you might have better luck getting it in a two-pack, along with Animal-istic.

Three coats of OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

Like OPI Rainbow Connection, we varied our application technique with this heavily glittered laquer. We didn't wipe as much off on the lip of the bottle as we normally would, and used more of a horizontal angle to polish. It's kind of a dab and glide process that will result in better coverage with fewer coats. We used three to get the desired effect of the sparkle in the bottle.

Here's what two coats looked like. You can see why we opted for just one more:

Two coats of Gettin' Miss Piggy With It over a base coat.

If, like us, you are tired of taking off glitter nail polishes, be aware that this one isn't easy to remove, but it's worth it. Don't forget to wipe the top of the bottle with a pad soaked in remover before you re-apply the lid. You'll want to use this polish again, and the dried glitter may help seal it closed forever. A very sad dilemma, indeed.   

Glambo Tip: Wipe the top of the bottle before reapplying the lid.


OPI Gettin' Miss Piggy With It is obviously part of the Muppets Collection. That means is a limited edition, and should be acquired before OPI has to give it the Miss Piggy 'Hiiii-Ya!'

Other polishes in the OPI Muppets Collection include: Excuse Moi!, Rainbow Connection, and Animal-istic.

Happy Polishing!
The Glambo Girls

It's CYBER MONDAY!

Hey Everyone!

If you are doing online shopping today, then you absolutely MUST use Ebates because today they are offering DOUBLE CASH BACK!!!! You'll get PAID to shop!

Ebates is a great idea every day, but today there are over 500 stores participating in Double Cash Back! Here is an example of what percentages will be included in your Big Fat Ebates Check:

Barnes & Noble 10%
The Body Shop 12%
Disney Store 8%
Gap 7%
Lowes & Home Depot 6%
JC Penny 6%
Kohls 6%
Lancome 14%
Macys 10%
Nordstrom 6%
Sephora 10%
Smashbox 12%
Walmart 2%

There are a ton of stores on Ebates - Sears, Old Navy, and virtually any major brand you can think of.

Not familiar with Ebates? It's really easy! Just sign up via the link on the top right of our site. (You'll be done in 20 seconds flat, and during that sign up process, you'll get to select a $10 gift card.) When you shop online, log on to Ebates first. Click the stores where you want to shop, and you will be taken directly to their websites. Shop away & Ebates will send you a check based upon your purchase amount and the advertised store's Ebates percentage. More details are on the Ebates website.

We Glambo Girls LOVE Ebates. If you're shopping online anyway, why not get cash back? It's CYBER MONDAY after all! If you hurry, who knows? You may even get your Big Fat Check before Christmas!

XoXo, Glambo

OPI Animalistic - Muppets Collection

Hello Everyone! Muppets week continues as we review our favorites from the OPI Muppets nail polish collection. Today, we swatched Animal-istic.



OPI did a great job creating a color based upon the Muppets 'Animal.' When we first viewed the 'Animal-istic' bottle on the beauty supply shelf, we thought it was red. In a different light, it was definitely a firey-orange. And, we love the pink iridescent hue you can see under bright lights. The color is the perfect reflection of the craziness of this popular Muppets character.

Animal, of the Muppets. Disney's Muppets Movie opens 11/23/11.

We thought Animal-istic would look pretty under OPI Gold Shatter. Once a top coat was added, the nails really sparkled! Later in the day though, we were kind of thinking the Animal-istic / Gold Shatter look reminded us of the menu in our favorite Chinese food restaurant. (Kung Pao Chicken, anyone? Ha ha.)




OPI Animal-istic topped with OPI Gold Shatter



We will use the color again, but will make sure to use TWO base coats as this polish really stains natural nails. Staining is common with dark colors, and especially reds, oranges and yellows, so it makes sense that Animal-istic would do that. It was bad though - someone actually commented on the substantial staining, thinking it was a new nail technique we were trying. 



Other OPI Muppets colors include Excuse Moi!, the glittery Rainbow Connection, and Gettin' Miss Piggy With It.



OPI Rainbow Connection - from the Muppets Collection

We absolutely could not get the Muppets Theme out of our head when we polished our nails with this super fun nail laquer. That's appropriate since OPI Rainbow Connection is part of the Muppets Collection from OPI, and the movie will be in theaters Thanksgiving weekend.

We were instantly drawn to this nail polish, but hesitated for a second because we wondered if it was a little too '70s disco for everyday wear. We were wrong! Metallics are really in right now, and even the most conservative hockey mom could spruce up a little black dress or grey top with this amazing bottle of varnish. It's a limited edition, so don't pass it up! This polish is great for nail art and special occasions galore.





We applied a base coat and one coat of OPI Rainbow Connection.



Application Tips:

If you are used to wiping the brush against the side of the bottle and polishing each nail in three strokes, you may consider varying your technique slightly for the second coat. Don't press the brush as hard against the lip of the bottle, and you won't remove as much glitter, especially the bigger pieces. We were heavy handed with our second coat, and that worked well. Otherwise, it might take 3-4 coats to get the effect. If your nail is exposed in one spot, it's easy to dab on some more polish in that area and have it look great. Make sure you wipe the top of the bottle before you close the lid because you will definitely be disappointed if you can't open the polish again.

Top two nails: Two coats of OPI Rainbow Connection using our application method. Bottom two nails: One coat of OPI Rainbow Connection over base coat.

This is the mother of all glitter nail polishes! That also means it isn't easy to remove. Apply some remover soaked pads and allow it to stay there for a few minutes before wiping away, and that should help some.

If you buy ONE bottle of nail polish this holiday season, this is THE one to have! You'll be happier than a kindergartner that glued an entire vial of craft glitter to her nails!

Other polishes from OPI's Muppets Collection include: Animal-istic, Excuse Moi!, and Gettin' Miss Piggy With It.

b.right! Radiant Skincare by Benefit

The Glambo Girls love getting introduced to new products via trial sizes, and Benefit's three piece intro kit was the perfect way to review their skincare basics. At just $12 U.S., how could we not try it to share with our readers?

The three piece kit comes in a reusable, clear, zip-close bag. It includes Total Moisture Facial Cream, Triple Performing Facial Emulsion, and Refined Finish Facial Polish.

Total Moisture Facial Cream -

This has a semi-thick, creamy texture and is designed to hydrate normal to dry skin. We liked it, and used it around our eye area. It also worked well for us on the decollete and neck. As we both can occasionally get breakouts, we didn't use it regularly in the t-zone areas. It does contain mango-butter. One of us is allergic to mango, but still did not have any issues using around the eyes. That ingredient is good to know about though.

Triple Performing Facial Emulsion -

This is the product we are most excited about. It's light, and has a thinner consistency than the Total Moisture Facial Cream. Triple Performing Facial Emulsion is also oil free, which we love, love, love. What we didn't realize at first use (because we just dove right in and tried it without reading anything about it) is that it has SPF 15 sunscreen. Colleen L. wears oil free sunscreen every day, so this was a perk. From experience, we know that it is super important to apply anything with SPF evenly, so we are glad that we noticed the SPF element. We applied some mineral make-up right over our Facial Emulsion in the morning, and were good to go.

Refined Finish Facial Polish -

The idea here is that the facial polish has fine granules that will lightly scrub away dry skin and facial impurities which will give skin a softer look and feel. You can see in our photo that the lotion-looking base has texture. We each used it once, and it did seem to soften the appearance of our skin. However, the granules, although fine, were somewhat harsh and gave the feel of microscopic cuts afterward. Not bad, just noticeable. We can tell you that although we intended to each try our Refined Finish again, neither of us did when we checked back a month later. This is probably because we have another version of this style of product that we liked better. If you haven't used a facial polish before, or if you have been applying the drug store variety, you may really like the Benefit product. Our suggestion is to buy the travel size and see what you think.

Overall, Benefit's intro kit is worth buying and trying. Like us, you might discover a product you love and will use daily.

http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/

Twilight Beauty

The highly anticipated Breaking Dawn, Part I of the Twilight Saga launches into theaters this week. What better time to share our discovery of a great discount on the Twilight Beauty line from Beauty Ticket?

Use the DuWop15 discount code at Beauty Ticket.

In case you aren't familiar with the Twilight make-up line, here is a a brief overview. These products can be found at Twilight Beauty. There are two sets of make-up products, Luna Twilight and Volturi Twilight, along with a fragrance, Immortal Twilight, and a dozen nail polishes under the Nox Twilight name.

Luna Twilight collection available at Twilight Beauty.

Volturi Twilight collection available at Twilight Beauty.

Everything can be purchased directly online, or some products, like the popular Lip Venom, can be found in Sephora stores. They also sell Twilight Beauty at Twilight conventions, which is how the brand came onto our radar. A friend attended one and brought back a Nox Twilight nail polish. She didn't pick the obvious Red Velvet shade, and instead opted for the pretty, pale pink named, 'Chiffon.' We found that we really liked both the polish and the color. The emblem makes the bottle look cool. The nail polish lid took us a second to get used to because although it is basically round, the very top is square, which we noticed when we applied it to our nails.

 The Nox Twilight collection of colors:

Nox Twilight nail polish retails for $6.99 a bottle and is available at Twilight Beauty.

If you happen to attend a convention, or have a nice friend that goes and can bring you back something, they have a huge selection of shirts and apparel to choose from. A quick search online shows that they even have Cullen maternity tees! How fun!

So, what do you think? Does Twilight Beauty have the potential to make you as beautiful as the descriptions of the immortals in the Twilight books? As for the Glambo Girls, one of us is crazy enough to stand in line for the first Breaking Dawn, Part 1 movie showing on Thursday night / 12:01am Friday morning. Check back on our blog and maybe we'll post a non-spoiler, quickie movie review in the comments section of this post.

XoXo, Glambo

OPI Pink Shatter, Part II

It's a Pink (Shatter) Wednesday! This nail polish shipped exclusively in the month of October to benefit breast cancer awareness and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. Ironically, we have found it easier to locate in stores since the beginning of November. If you want a bottle, get it now or forever regret letting OPI's Pink Shatter slip away.

This pink appears to have an oranger hue in the bottle than when applied to fingernails. It isn't as bright of a pink as China Glaze's Pink Crackle or Sally Hansen's Pink Crackle. OPI's version shatters well whether you apply thick or thin coats, which is nice.

One thing we really like is the top of the bottle. The people at OPI are smart cookies because the shatter top makes it easy to identify instead of mistaking it for a deeper version of another polish like Come to Poppy.

We applied OPI Pink Shatter over a few base colors so you could see the range of options.

OPI Pink Shatter over White.

Shatter polishes generally don't crackle as well over glitter bases, but OPI Pink Shatter still separated well.

OPI Pink Shatter over a pale glittery base.

OPI Pink Shatter over Silver.

If you get yourself a bottle of OPI Pink Shatter, join the Glambo Girls on a Pink Wednesday and 'rock your pink in the middle of the week.'



Don't it Make my Brown Eyes Blue?

So, we snagged a song title as a headline for this post. There is a doctor in Southern CA that has developed a laser that will permanently change brown eyes to a blue hue. It should be commerically available outside the United States in eighteen months and inside the U.S. in approximately three years.

The proceedure takes 20 seconds per eye and does not effect vision. Once completed, the change is permanent. The cost is expected to be around $5,000 US. See the interview from the doctor via Skype below.

Right This Minute interview
As our regular readers know, there is more than one Glambo Girl. One of us is blue-eyed, and the others are brown. All of us have reservations about making a permanent change to eye color. Unless you have been wearing blue contacts for years, we don't really see the point.

We have wondered about the side effects listed in the Latisse commercials stating that eye color can change from blue to brown. The blue eyed Glambo Girl refuses to try it because, 'with my luck, it won't be an even color change and I'll have spotted eyes!" Well, if you use this laser proceedure to change from brown to blue, it looks like you will have a gradual, uneven change of color, but it should only last for a month.

Another thing to consider (because we just have to go there) is that you wouldn't be able to keep this optional surgery a secret if you marry a blue eyed man and a have brown eyed child. If he remembers anything about high school biology, he may suspect you've been cheating! We're just saying...

Anyway, we thought this was interesting and had to share. What do you think? Would you make your brown eyes blue?

Josie Maran Argan Beautiful Lips Collection from Sephora

Want soft luscious lips with a hint of color? If you said YES, you must try Josie Maran's lip products!

I had never tried these products, but argan oil is the hottest thing on the beauty market.  I had tried it in my hair (Moroccan Oil), with gorgeous results, but not in any cosmetics yet, so I was excited to give it a try, especially on my moisture-loving lips.

This set is sold exclusively at Sephora, for $42 at the time of this post.  I first saw it online, then tried to buy it at the store, where it was unavailable.  So ordered it online, and no wonder it wasn't in the store--it doesn't come in a gift box type package.  Rather, all the products were packaged in a manila envelope, with a sheet of product information.  Just giving you a heads-up so you don't order it and wonder if it was a return or something.

The set includes:

 - 0.17 oz Argan Oil
- 2 x 0.09 oz/0.21 oz Magic Marker Lip Stain with Argan Color Stick in Waltz & Quickstep
- 3 x 0.13 oz Argan Natural Volume Lip Gloss in Optimism, Precious & Voluptuous

These products DO NOT contain these evil ingredients:
- Parabens
- Sulfates
- Synthetic Fragrances
- Petrochemicals
- Phthalates
- GMOs
- Triclosan
...and that's a good thing.

So, let's start with the Argan Oil.  This stuff is potent.  It is oil, after all, so go easy with it.  You can use it in applications other than for your lips,--to moisturize hair, dry patches, cuticles, and some people use it on their faces.  I like to apply it to my lips before going to sleep.  I wake the next morning with soft pillow lips (That's what he says, anyway).

I have to admit that I bought this kit for the Magic Markers.  My heart craved a lipstain that didn't dry my lips out until they resembled fruit leather, but had color that stayed put.  So this was the product I was most excited to try.   Well, let's say, it was good.  The stain end was typical, marker-type stain.  The stain itself felt like it could be drying if left to it's own devices, but flip over, and use the matching balm on the other end, and lips get conditioned and nice.  Be careful, because the balm does not retract (like chapstick), and if your application is too aggressive, you can snap it right off.  Was is long lasting?  In my case, no.  But maybe I just talk too much.

Much to my surprise, my favorite product of the bunch was the Natural Volume Lipgloss.  Know this about me first: Although by no means do I need a lip plumper (I've been blessed with full lips--or some say a big mouth), I am somewhat addicted to the lip plumper glosses.  I love the tingly feeling they give me.  Reminds me that I'm ALIVE! But some of them can be quite drying, and habit-forming.
These glosses, however, being enriched with argan oil, are super hydrating.  I'm not saying super goopy, but super moisturizing, which is hard to come by in a gloss.  It is not a tingly gloss, as the lip plumper ingredient is a naturally occurring tripeptide that has been shown to visually enhance the lips by stimulating lip collagen.  It's glossy, and flavored/scented with dulce de leche (that's caramel for us gringos).  The applicator is my only "eh." It's a brush, and not particularly precise, so take care to not get a gloss moustache.

I LOVE THIS GLOSS!!  My lips are sooo soft now.  Bring on the Winter dryness, I'm armed with my argan oil!

OPI Excuse Moi!

It's a Pink Wednesday! This time, we opted for OPI Excuse Moi! from the new Muppets collection.

If the Ruby Slippers were a rosy pink, they would look just like this nail polish sparkling in the sun.

It's a glitter polish which has it's pros and cons. We like that you can touch up chipped nail tips, and it will blend right in thanks to the rougher texture of the glitter. This creates the perfect optical illusion, helping to extend the life of a manicure. The down-side to glitter is that it takes a while to remove in it's entirety. Plan to spend some time with some remover soaked pads when you decide to change your shade.

We have OPI Excuse Moi! featured on our fingers, and we love it even more on our toes. It's a great pedicure polish and is available as part of a limited edition collection. Get it now before the Muppets movie is out of theaters and OPI Excuse Moi! is out of stores.

Other OPI Muppets nail polishes include: Rainbow Connection, Gettin' Miss Piggy With It, and Animal-istic.

Glambo's Bloody Manicure

Happy Halloween Everybody!

We created three 'bloody' manicures using only the bottles of nail polish to create this effect. No nail art tools were used, making this simple and easy for anyone to imitate as the perfect accent to any costume.

After appraising our selection of red polishes, we selected Sally Hansen #18 Cinna-Snap as the ideal 'blood' doppelganger. Several people stopped me while I was running errands asking to see my nails and inquiring how we got them to look like this.

Next, we applied the same varnish over a white base color.

It retrospect, we would have selected a more traditional red color to compliment the brightness of the white. We can picture this look with a scary clown costume. Yikes!

Finally, we used a black base color and switched to a metallic red so that it would be more visible against the black lacquer. We got a lot of compliments on this combination. It kind of looks like flames depending on the viewing angle.

Sally Hansen's 'Black Out' color was a great base color. It was super shiny and lasted through an evening of carving pumpkins and even scooping out the seeds.

Glambo's Bloody Manicure is super easy! First, we applied a base coat, and 'dripped' our 'bloody' polish over it to create our natural nail look. If you prefer a colored base, use that polish and let that coat dry. To add the 'blood,' select a red and keep a bit more polish on the brush than you would normally use. Start the 'drip' from the cuticle end and pull toward the edge of the nail. Repeat until the tips of your nails appear as they have been dipped in blood.  When applying your clear top coat, keep in mind that you may need to wipe your top coat brush on a paper towel before dipping it back into the bottle. This will prevent the red polish from transferring from your red tips and adding red streaks to the natural nail and white portions.

Happy Haunting! Have a spooktactular Halloween from Glambo!