No new stuff here, but I'm glad you found something to keep you occupied while you were without electricity. Sure happy you got it back. Did you have any storm damage?

Thanks, Patti. Amazingly, no damage on our property. Plenty nearby though. The wind sounded like a train bearing down on us all night. I was afraid for our trees--and our roofs! I didn't go out in the car until Friday, but my son told me there were power lines and trees down all over the place. Many stores without power.

Of course, our situation was nothing compared to what so many others went through, and continue to go through.

Glad to see you posting. I thought you got scared off:) Thanks for the insta-dri tip, I'll pick some up. I just painted my nails because they decided they wanted to grow. Look pretty good for the moment.

I bought some maybelline BB cream last week in the light/medium shade. I'm a little confused by it. It barely has any coverage, is it supposed to reflect light or something to make me look younger? Not sure. I'm also not sure if I should wear a foundation over it for a deeper coverage. I rarely wear makeup because I'm lazy, but I should because it makes me look much better.

Thanks for the tip. I wondered about the Insta-Dri top coat.
Glad you made it through the storm and back posting again.

Does the "BB" stand for something?

Thanks, Mammie and Sleeperblues. (Sleeper, I emailed you after I got my power back. Hope it went through.) Maybelline was another BB brand I read was good. Pammyfay, I believe BB is supposed to stand for Beauty Balm. Coulda fooled me. :-)

If it is Beauty Balm why does it have color in it??

I guess it's supposed to make you more beautiful. That's the theory, anyway.

BB is beauty or blemish balm, all it is, is tinted moisturizer with SPF and some blemish cream all in one. I have been using Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer with SPF for years in the hot weather when I don't want heavy makeup.

Terilyn, what do they mean by "blemish"? At my age, I'm not exactly plagued by zits. Age spots, maybe. LOL

When I polished my nails, years ago - I used Pam cooking spray to set the polish - worked good for me.

I think it originated in Asia, Korea has objected against others using the term blemish cream. They say they own that term. Like I said, marketing tool!

I bought a L'Oreal hair product by mistake - thought it was a pocket bag size of hair spray.
Best mistake purchase of the year.
It's called EverStyle. Reminds me of the stuff my stylist puts a couple of drops in her hand, rubs the hands together and it gives hair a slight shine. This gel has just a little oil, and hair lies perfectly.

It's in a little 3" bottle, and the price looks high, but you only use a dab. One bottle lasts me over a month.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Unite 7 seconds leave in conditioner. I have long wavy hair and it instantly makes my hair easy to comb through. I also really like Bumble and Bumble hair products, although I don't buy them often because of the price. LOL

I love kwik dry. Several polishers make it. It's great when you can't wait - especially if your polish is old and takes longer to dry.

Here's another tip - the absolute bestest ever top coat to prevent chipping is Sally Hansen's Advanced Hard As Nails with Nylon in clear. That stuff is as tough as a rock.

BB Cream - took me a while to get used to it. I'm used to putting on moisturizer, but this stuff needs to go on bare skin. Tried Garnier, tried Maybelline but my favorite is L'Oreal. I tried a sample size I found in Vogue, and I was SHOCKED at how much it covered. I still prefer Bare Mineals for work, but BB Cream is what I wear on weekends without makeup.

I can't think of much new I've tried because once I find something that I like I usually just stick to it, I think I'm past (age wise that is) the point of experimenting with new stuff for the most part. I DID however finally get around to trying Mineral Makeup and I just absolutely love it. I am using Maybelline's MM and found the best makeup brush that isn't very expensive to apply it. Super soft and holds the product great. It is Real Techniques expert face brush purchased from ULTA. It is not a huge Kabuki brush but rather a small foundation brush. I used a coupon to get a great price. I would recommend this brush, it is a wonderful quality brush. Could also be used for blush.

Here is a link that might be useful: Expert face brush

I use that same BB cream and I love it. I thought it was the same as the dark spot removing cream but with tint. I don't know why I thought that so I could be wrong.

When I wear foundation I use the dark spot remover underneath. I don't have dark spots but it evens out my skin tone (I believe it uses Vitamin C to do this). But I picked up the BB cream off the supermarket clearance rack (that's where I buy a lot of name brand beauty products) at some point and would occasionally use that instead of foundation (I need lighter coverage since using the dark spot remover.) I ran low on foundation and I've been using the BB cream exclusively for a few weeks. I use a transluscent mineral powder over it.

My latest and greatest find (from the supermarket clearance rack!) is Nexxus Split End Mender. I used to barely use a hair dryer on my hair and rarely saw a split end but I've become addicted to the flat iron, which comes with a price. This stuff really disguises the split ends. You only put it on about once a week.

My other sort-of-recent favorite, since spring, is Mary Kay's Microdermabrasion kit. It's just a really fine-grained exfoliator. I know there must be a less expensive comparable product out there but I haven't found it yet. The kit was $58 but it lasts a very long time. It comes with a rejuvenator (moisturizer) but that hasn't moved me one way or another. You can buy the products separately - I will probably only buy the exfoliator in the future.

A friend of mine started selling MK products in the spring. I tried several things but they ones I really like are the eye firming cream, the microdermabrasion cream and the Satin Hands, which she gave me half price. I don't think I would pay full price for it but I love it. It's basically just rubbing your hands with Vaseline, exfoliating, rinsing and moisturizing. That routine does wonders for your hands.

For hair straightening I've been using John Frieda's 3 day straight and Brazilian Keratin Therapy Flat Iron Spray. I didn't think the 3 Day Straight did anything at first and I put it away. But it was about $9 so I decided I would use it up anyway so I wouldn't end up tossing it and I noticed my hair was staying straighter (could also be that I first tried it in high humidity weather and then started up again when the humidity moved out). Straightening your hair is like heroin - it's a pain in the butt to keep up and you wish you never started but you can't stop doing it even though you know it's causing so much damage.

Thanks for the tips, ladies.

Alisande, I think your email got lost in cyberspace. Glad you are ok.

Monica -- I use something similar for my hair. For once I listened to the stylist: a little styling cream (more liquid than thick cream), plus a dab of "defining serum." The items she sent me home were Enjoy's Shaping Lotion and Tigi's Catwalk Curlesque Defining Serum (little bottle with a pump -- a little bit mixed into the shaping lotion is all you need, which does make the product last longer!). Dunno what it's supposed to do for curly hair, because my hair is more straight than wavy now.

She also spritzed some Bed Head spray on me. I never, ever used hairspray (always have told other stylists right off the bat that if the hairstyle requires hairspray, he or she had better start thinking of something else!). But this is not sticky stuff -- it just gives a little lift.

The first 2 products are at Ulta; Bed Head is in drugstores/Targets/etc., too.

All my other styling products from before are on the bottom shelf of the hallway closet now.