Relaxing DIY Spa Day Idea |
If your pennies and your peds are pinched after your holiday expenditures, take a minute to unwind and give your feet a treat at home! Mother Blogger and The Working Girl gave it a test-drive and their feet are feeling fabulous -- as well as their wallets! |
![]() Whether you have five minutes or five hours to relax, you'll love this step-by-step at-home pedicure. It's an easy way to put your feet up (literally) and have a few calm moments to pamper yourself and reflect on all the fun you (hopefully) had this holiday season. See step-by-step |
Diy
At-Home Pedicure
At-Home Beauty Product Recipes
Beautiful Skin and Hair for Pennies |
With these at-home beauty product recipes you can save money without sacrificing quality |
![]() Spend a little too much this holiday season? Well, one way to get your bank account back on track is to spend a little less on products. Thankfully, with these at-home recipes, you can save plenty of cash but still have glowing skin and shiny hair. See recipes |
NEW L'Oreal Paris Excellence To-Go Review
L'Oreal Paris Excellence To-Go
Reviewed by Jamie
Save yourself hours at the salon and some moola with the new L'Oreal hair color kit that processes in just ten minutes.
I'm always a bit hesitant to try at-home hair coloring products because of countless mishaps with them.
Brassiness.
Orange.
Yellow.
Dry.
Brittle.
Forget those adjectives with the new and improved, time-efficient way to get your roots back to fab not drab.
It's great for the working mom or professional woman with little time to waste with salon visits and oopsy moments with at-home color.
Why do I love this product?
- Less ammonia content and a more pleasant smell.
- Doesn't burn the scalp.
- Even color result.
- New dye technology consolidates the hair cuticle.
- Full gray coverage -- ahem, note to Mother Blogger.
Results:
Amazing! Finally, a natural looking blonde (9 Light Natural Blonde) that complements my skin tone and left my hair soft and silky, not fake and brassy!
Available at www.lorealparis.com and chain drug, food, and mass market retailers ($9.49).
Click here to save $3.00.
Related Articles:
- 15 At-Home Hair Color Tips from Salon Experts
- Why Hair Goes Gray
- Hairs My Story, Sad But True
- L'Oreal EverPure Shampoo and Conditioner
- Redken Color Extend Shampoo and Conditioner
- Beauty Tricks to Cover Gray Hair Between Appointments
Pedi-Ready with Ms. Pedicure
Beauty Products Review: Ms. Pedicure
If your winter tootsies are as rough as a pumice stone, then you need to give Ms. Pedicure a call! Ms. Pedicure introduced five new products for spring 2009. The collection has been revamped in girly pink and white stripes, giving Ms. Pedicure a sassy and chic look with a playful edge for her spring lineup.
Ms. Pedicure's lineup includes the following:
- The Foot Spahh: Ah, the utlimate luxury for reviving tired legs and feet. ($12.99)
- Smooth Talker: Tool to stop calluses before they even start. ($4.99)
- Heeling Fine: Intensive cream that smoothes and softens heels. Contains shea butter. ($3.99)
- Smoothy Groovy: Foot brush and pumice stone combo ($2.99)
- Rock n' Sole: Pumice stone ($1.99)
Don't think that Ms. Pedicure diss'd your nails. Also new for spring is Ms. Manicure's Handy Dandy Mani. This kit is packed with everything you need to keep nails looking their best. It's the perfect size to throw in your handbag for touch-ups. ($9.99)
WHAT WE LIKED ABOUT MS. PEDICURE AND MS. MANICURE:
- Easy to use
- How-To and professional tips included on each product
- Quality tools
- Budget-friendly: With the initial outlay costing $27, you are already ahead of the game
- Ms. Manicure and Ms. Pedicure's updated look makes doing-it-yourself more palatable
Any woman or girl on your Valentine list would love any product from the Ms. Pedicure or Ms. Manicure line. To purchase the products, go to mspedicure.com.
Beauty Product Review: Nikkel Holistic Skincare - Microdermx
Beauty Product Review: Nikkel Medical Grade Microdermabrasion Kit (for in-home use) -- Microdermx - New!
What is Microdermx? Read the review.
7 Steps To The Perfect At-Home Facial
- Cleanse face. Drop four green tea or chamomile tea bags into a pot of boiling water.
- Apply an exfoliating scrub with fruit enzymes.
- After boiling the tea and water for three minutes, remove from heat. Hold your face 12 inches above it, close your eyes, and using a towel, create a tent over your head and pot.
- After three minutes, rinse off exfoliant and pat dry.
- Apply a face mask that is suited to your complexion.
- Put your feet up and relax until it is time to remove the face mask.
- Rinse and blot dry. Immediately apply your moisturizer.
With the money you saved by performing the facial at home, you could take your significant other out to dinner tonight, put $100 in your vacation fund, or pick something up in a hot spring color. Now that's brains on beauty.
Enjoy!
10 Fashion and Beauty Secrets du Jour
Today Show's US Weekly contributor, Jill Martin, offered 10 clever beauty and fashion secrets this morning. These smart tips du jour may not change your life, but they could make you feel perkier, more uplifted, fresher, sizzling, or smooth and glossy.
- Cleavage Cupcakes for the perky-breast-challenged woman.
- Butt Booster for the Does-this-make-my-a**-look-big woman.
- Go Smile Touch Up Minis for the after-5-too-much-wine woman.
- Preparation H for the puffy-eyed woman...and other puffiness. (Apply a few drops under your eyes to reduce puffiness. I think the jury is still out on this eye enhancement.)
- Swab Plus cotton tips filled with eye makeup remover for the drama queen and teary-eyed woman. (For your purse -- brains on beauty!)
- Silver makeup bag that morphs into an evening bag for zee drinks-after-work woman. (From Blue Tree NYC . Ooh la la!. You will love zee very French muzeek at Phoebe Cates' site, too.)
- Wearing fishnet hose worn over nude hose for the inclement-weather woman.
- Fabric softener for the fuzzy-fluffed or kinky-quilled woman. (Rub fabric softener over the frizzies.)
- Baking soda for the mephitic-maned or malodorous-mopped woman. (Rub a bit of baking soda into hair.)
- Baby powder for the lubricative-locked or saponaceous-stranded woman. (Rub a bit of baby powder into hair.)
4 At-Home Options for Mustachio'd Women
Apparently we have been living in the dark this winter because on one of our rare sunny days, The Hubster looked at me and said, "You've got a mustache!!!" My hormones, or lack therof, created a hirsute fringe on my upper lip. Indeed our society, and The Hubster, seems to have grown more “trichophobic” - phobic about body hair -- my body hair! -- but my response was an unemotional "Whatever." (Do you know what that means in women's code?)
After pretending like the offending hairs didn't faze me, I sprinted to the bathroom faster than Jackie Joyner-Kersee, best woman sprinter of all time, to start the War on Hairs. If I was a patient woman, I would wait and have it waxed at a salon, but no-o-o-o, we were going out to dinner with friends, so I had to remove the fuzzy foe. Without much time, I had four options:
- Tweezing: I tried to squeeze the hairy hysteria off of my upper lip but it was taking too long and was too painful. It's also not wise to pull the hair out by the root because it injures the skin. After repeated attempts of plucking, you can end up with round, hard bumps like that of a skinless plucked chicken. Not a good look.
- Snipping with scissors: This option is better than plucking but it doesn't last as long.
- Bleaches, waxing, and depilatories: Although I have a few beauty products of that ilk in my beauty product graveyard, in the past, I have removed part of my epidermis with such products, so I will leave that to the professionals.
- Although I don't generally use a razor, it is an effective way to remove hair. Despite widespread belief to the contrary, removing hair by a razor or other means does not make it grow in faster or darker. So I pulled out my Seiko Facial Shaver that I use for shaving delicate places and said, "Bye-bye mustachio!" I have shaved my facial peach fuzz many times before and it has never grown back as anything but peach fuzz.
Brains on Beauty: Although option No. 4 worked the best in this scenario, for longer results, I would still opt for professional waxing at a salon or electrolysis or laser performed by a dermatologist. For a list of other options, please check Women's Health for further defuzzing treatments.
Sources: Hormone Help Center , Women's Health, Seiko
How To Get A Professional Looking Manicure In Minutes

If any of you women have your own Drama Queen housed in your abode (be it, human or dog), keep a stash of Avon's Instant Enamel Strips in your cosmetic case. In minutes, you can leave the drama behind and head out the door to your party with professional looking nails.
2 Minutes Is All You Need For a Manicure
- For the Midwest girl, Snow Time To Wait is apropos. (We are expecting five more inches of the white stuff today.)
- For the smart college student, Cram For An Exam, adds an extra two minutes on to your partying -- err, studying time.
- For the elementary school parking lot diva, Carpool Mama will keep your nails impeccably painted while you are pointing out how your kid was already accepted at Harvard.
- For the high school girl, Text Me, should keep you out of the principal's office.
- For the jet setter, Red-Eye to New York will have you landing on time.
- And for The Woman, Catch Ya Later.
Catch Ya Later...