Product Review: Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Serum

Want longer, thicker lashes? Six months ago, my friend J told me about a great product I should try. "It seriously changed my life. People ask me all the time if these are my natural eyelashes," she told me. She does indeed have beautiful eyelashes.

Rimmel London's Lash Accelerator Serum is a relatively inexpensive ($8 at Target) and pain-free way to get longer, thicker eyelashes. You just apply the serum once daily either before you put on your mascara or before you go to bed (it's part of my bedtime routine). If you do this religiously, you'll start to notice improved length and fullness in your lashes in about 3 weeks. I have really thin eyelashes and I've noticed a definite increase in eyelash attractiveness since I've started using this product. I think I'm close to even competing with R and Z. (Don't you hate when men and/or babies have gorgeous eyelashes and don't even realize how lucky they are!? Z takes after R and won't ever have to use mascara. Lucky girl.) So, if you're in the mood to try a new product, choose this one! 


Here is where you can find more information about this product, compliments of Rimmel London's U.S. website.

Product Review: Sally Hansen Salon Insta Gel Strips

I like having my nails painted but I don't like 1. waiting for nail polish to dry; 2. how my right hand always looks worse than my left hand; 3. how quickly nail polish chips, which ruins a manicure. One day at Target I saw the Sally Hansen Salon Insta Gel Strips kit and decided to give it a try. Rather than using regular nail polish, there are gel strips that you adhere to your nails. You then secure the gel strips with a curing agent, hold your nail under an LED light for 30 seconds, and voila, salon-style manicure for cheap at home. According to the box, the polish lasts for up to two weeks and is chip-free. 

The starter kit comes with everything you need.

Here's a step-by-step process:

1. Push your cuticles back with the enclosed orange stick. File your nails to the desired shape and buff the surface of your nails. Swipe clean with the alcohol wipe to remove any oil and residue. 

2. Peel off the front and back of the gel strip and adhere to your nail. Press down carefully to remove air pockets. Bend over the top of the nail and file away excess gel with the nail file. 

3. Once you've applied the strips to all of your nails, coat them with the clear curing agent one at a time. Place the nail under the LED light for 30 seconds to set the manicure. Repeat until all nails have been cured under the light.

4. Swipe the nails with an alcohol pad to remove excess residue. You're done!

The entire process took about 45 minutes. I expect it goes faster as you do it more often. The only thing I didn't like was that my nails were really sticky for the rest of the day; cat hair and lint kept getting stuck on them. I woke up this morning though and there is no more stickiness, so that's nice. I'll see how well the strips last compared to regular nail polish. If this manicure lasts two weeks with no chips, I'm going to be a very happy customer!

Product Review: L'Oreal Revitalift Night Cream

I'm a very expressive person and I've been told that I make a lot of faces during conversations. Between that and being tired from having an infant and working and being in graduate school, I've noticed my skin is no longer as radiant (ha ha) as it was in the past. For someone who is obsessive about avoiding sun exposure (I don't want skin cancer!), I sure do have a bunch of little wrinkles all of a sudden. Yikes. 

I thought 25 was too young to start using a night cream, but I figured I'd better start now or I'll look like I'm 40 in a few years. (Now that's a slight exaggeration, I know.). But it would be nice to get rid of some of these little lines that have started popping up under my eyes and between my eyebrows.

Since my skin is so sensitive, I'm an ardent user of Clinique products and have been for over a decade. When I had mini-wrinkle crisis, I didn't have the time to head out to Clinique, so I decided to just get a temporary fix from Target. I picked up L'Oreal Revitalift Night Cream. A few weeks later I was blown away. This stuff really works! I used the lotion every night for a month before I saw results. One morning I noticed that the line between my eyebrows had been reduced. I now feel like I can now furrow my brow without worrying about permanent damage! Not only does the cream work well, it smells great too. It's thick and moisturizes well and doesn't leave any negative effects for those who have sensitive skin. For a $13 jar of night cream, this stuff is amazing. I'm glad I decided to skip the Clinique (and save some cash) for now. 

Product Review: Gopicnic Ready-to-Eat Meals

I saw these at Target yesterday and had to get one to try for lunch. I just got done eating and it was so good! I bought the Hummus & Crackers box, which contained a single-serve package of hummus, crackers, fruit and nut mix, edamame, pepita, and watermelon seed mix, and a small portion of dark chocolate with sea salt. The calorie total for the entire box is only 380, so I also ate an apple, yogurt and carrot sticks.

There were six or seven different varieties of gopicnic boxes and Target had them on sale for $3.50 each. In addition to the good food, there was a sudoku puzzle at the bottom of the box. The package was really small too, which would make these lunches ideal to take on an international plane ride or to pack while traveling and unable to eat at a restaurant.

If you've got a long trip planned or are looking for a way to make lunch exciting, I'd give one of these a try because they're well worth the money.