Magic Bag O' Samples: GlamGlow Mud Mask

I'm about three and a half weeks out from filming in High Definition. That means that I need to 1) learn my lines (whoops...), 2) lose about ten pounds (not happening), and 3) get my skin HD ready. I might actually be able to do that last one.

About a week ago, I was able to get my hands on a deluxe sample size of GlamGlow Tingling & Exfoliating Mud Mask. It's, supposedly, this miracle product that you slather on, and when you rinse it off fifteen minutes later you're Christie Brinkley circa Uptown Girl. Yeah...right.

Here's what Sephora has to say about it:

This mud mask leaves skin noticeably radiant and glowing. It activates moisturizing collagen synthesis, provides gentle resurfacing exfoliation, and helps to leave skin smoother, brighter, and softer. While providing tighter skin texture and tighter pores, it provides a more youthful appearance and absorbs impurities without removing natural oils.

And GlamGlow, themselves:

Designed for Hollywood’s Entertainment, Music, Fashion and Award industries for camera-ready soft glowing skin. Dredged off the coast of Southern France, home to glamorous Cannes, St. Tropez and Monaco. GLAMGLOW is an amazing rapid gentle exfoliant mud mask for men and women, high in ancient volcanic pumice rock, super antioxidants and minerals.

Those are some serious claims! I figured, I'd try it now, and at worst, I'd break out and have a month to get over it. At best, my skin might look nice for Thanksgiving, and I might save the rest of the tube to use before filming for a little extra oomph.

Um...I bought a jar.

Well, to be more specific, Thomas and I went in together on a jar, and we got it through Amazon for about half the retail price. I'm sorry, but the day I shell out almost seventy bucks for a face mask is the day you can cart me off to the looney bin. Not that it isn't worth it, but I just don't have that kind of money. Anyhoo, back to the story.

I put on the mask, which is very pleasant and natural-smelling, and has large bits of green tea leaves scattered throughout. It's very scrubby, and left a lovely cooling feeling, but I wasn't seeing any magic, yet. After fifteen minutes, the mask was very dry, hard, flaky, and downright uncomfortable. In fact, it had begun to itch, so I ran back to the bathroom to rinse it off. That's when I saw it. The pores on my nose were, dare I say, clear! Actually, all of the skin on my face was clear, save for one pimple that showed up as a result of the mask, and was quickly dealt with (with an extractor! Be careful, folks!). I could tell an immediate difference in the look and feel of my skin, and even ran into the living room, yelling for Thomas to feel my face. Why he puts up with me, I'll never know...

The effects lasted for almost three days. I did feel the need to do a "touch up" mask after two days, but probably could have gotten by without it. Thomas has trouble with the pores on his nose clogging up, so he used a little just in that area, and was really happy with the results. After a couple of days of discussing it, we decided to go in together on a jar.

This is, easily, the best mask I've ever used. I have a fancy-schmancy one from Basin, the tried-and-true Queen Helene Mint Julep, and have slathered on more strawberries and avacados than you can shake a stick at, but this one tops them all. My skin is smoother, brighter, more supple...it glows. I'm still a little too young to be able to tell if it tightens or helps with wrinkles, but even if it doesn't, it's still worth trying out--especially during holiday party season! My advice: go to Amazon. Prices are considerably cheaper, the sellers are generally reputable (mine came from Amazon, directly), and you can find smaller sizes.

Final Verdict: 9 out of 10. The price is the only thing keeping this from being a freaking 11.

That "Hollywood Glow" and a Mini-Rant

When I do a makeup look on here, nine times out of ten, it's because when I finished putting on my makeup for the day, I looked in the mirror and thought, "Well, I'll be! That doesn't suck!" My thinking is if I can do it, anyone can do it. Sometimes, we all need a little inspiration, or maybe we're looking for that one "holy grail" product, or possibly just need reassurance that yes, you can wear cranberry eyeshadow and not look like you have an affliction. That said, ten times out of ten, I'm fighting crappy lighting and a cell phone camera to take these horrible pictures that don't do justice to the in-person look. Occasionally, the lighting is perfect and the camera is still, the stars align and the angels sing, and I can get a darn near decent picture. Other times, like today, I have to throw in the towel. And I could just cry...

See, as I've said a gazillion times, I'm not a pro. I'm a theatre and film actress, which does involve a whole lotta makeup, so I have years and years and years of on-the-job experience, but no real training. Every now and then, I'll have a breakthrough that I'm sure is nothing new to anyone else, but it's new to me, and sends me bouncing up to the rafters. Today was one of those days, and I can't get a good picture to save my life. ARGH! You know that lit-from-within "Hollywood glow" you see on celebrities like Emma Stone and Jennifer Lopez on the red carpet, but never on Suzy-Q at the mall? Well, I cracked it, and it's awesome and super easy, and I have no photographic evidence.

Of course, that doesn't mean I can't tell you how I did it. You know, in case you don't already have your own routine.

Alrighty, I started off with a brightening serum. I used the Ole Henriksen that came in my Glossybox, but any brightening serum would do, or you could use a brightening primer, like Benefit That Gal. Then, I prepped my undereye area with a brightening (you can see where this is going) eye cream. I used Super by Perricone, but again, that's just a suggestion, and there are oodles of other, less expensive creams that can work just as well. This is just what I had lying around. Just make sure that whatever you choose is for brightening. Once the skin is prepped, apply a dewy foundation. I chose Too Faced Beauty Balm, but MAC Studio Sculpt would be another good choice, depending on how much coverage you need. You don't want your foundation to be glittery or oily looking, but you don't want a matte or demi-matte finish.

Next, I moved on to the eyes. I primed with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden because it matches my skin tone well, and I didn't want to cover my entire eye area with shadow. This allows the un-shaded areas to blend with the shaded. Then, I grabbed my Urban Decay Vegan Palette for all of the colors I needed for this eye look, including liner. Using a flat brush, I patted Urb (a glittery, pale green--discontinued, sadly, but Mildew with a light hand would be close) onto my lids. Then, using a slightly fluffier shadow brush, added Half Baked (mettalic gold) to the area directly above the crease. Smog (shimmery copper bronze) went into the actual crease, with the outer corner blending down into the lash line. I deepened the crease with a little Twice Baked (deep chocolate brown shimmer). I then ran a thick line of Smog along the lower lash line, and darkened it by running Twice Baked from the outer corner to about the halfway point. Then just blend, blend, blend, blend, blend. Finish by lining the upper lash line with 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Zero, and winging the outer corner slightly, then adding just a bit into the very outer corner of the lower lash line. Here's a lousy picture:

What you end up with is a neutral smoky eye with a pop of color and a pretty gleam. This is great for day, but could easily be darkened up for evening.

Moving on! I used Maybelline Age Rewind concealer in Neutralizer (I'm that pale, y'all) to cover any redness and blemishes. This does brighten up my skin, but feel free to use your fave brightening concealer. Benefit Erase Paste is awesome if you can find your shade. After that, I used Rimmel Stay Matte setting powder (I know! Matte?!) and pressed it into the skin with a buffing brush. Basically, I just wanted to set the powder and knock off a little bit of the shine. It won't completely matte out your skin, but it will keep you from looking like a disco ball. Plus, we're not done with the "glow" yet, anyway.

Next, I filled in my brows with a matching shadow from the E.L.F. Brow Kit, and added mascara to top and bottom lashes (I like Buxom, but whatever you've got will work). Then, I took Too Faced Sun Bunny Bronzer and dusted the tops of my cheeks, bridge of my nose, chin, and hairline. This is a light bronzer with some shimmer (not glitter), and it's really the key to the lit-from-within look we're going for. After that, I took a bright rose pink blush (Stila, discontinued) and a lighter baby pink blush (also Stila, also discontinued, but check out NYX in Rose Garden to kill two birds) that both contained just enough of a sheen to keep from being matte (think: satin) and blended them onto the apples of my cheeks, blending outward across the cheekbone. Benefit Watt's Up highlighter (and really, I'm just going to flat out recommend this--it's gorgeous) went into the inner corners of my eyes, across the brow bones, and onto the cheekbones. I finished off the look with Rimmel lipstick in Crush--a creamy, coral-y nude with a luminous sheen--applied over a lip balm (Fresh Sugar, but again, whatevs).  Here's another lousy picture:

If you have MAC Shy Girl or NYX Pumpkin Pie, then you have this color. They're all pretty much identical.

I didn't line it because I didn't want any harsh lines for this look. Also, I'm lazy and needed to get out the door.

It seems like a lot of steps and products, but really, this only took a few minutes, and...well, yeah, there are a lot of products. Not going to argue with you there. Still, it was surprisingly easy and quick to apply this look, and I have been positively giddy with the results. I hope this helps you guys, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Oh! If this works for you, let me know in the comments! Also, you've probably noticed there are no links. That's because you can either use whatever you have that is similar, or you can find these products readily at Sephora, Ulta, Beauty.com, Drugstore.com or your favorite brick and mortar drugstore (except the discontinued stuff...whoops).

Fear and Loathing in Universal Studios Hollywood

I'm officially a wuss.

Now, for those of you who know me, this is not news. While it's true that I do love a good ghost story and Halloween is my favorite holiday, I'm not one for blood and gore or good, old-fashioned jump scares. You toss a kitten at a window, I'm probably going to break said window to escape from Fluffy. If I'm going to sit through a scary movie, it better involve either some serious humor or one heckuva mystery to solve, and if even one creepy doll is involved, all bets are off. I watched Psycho in broad daylight and still had nightmares. Disney's The Watcher in the Woods kept me sufficiently freaked out from the fourth grade through Freshman year. Possibly saddest of all, I've only successfully made it through two haunted houses in my life: one at Niagara Falls in Canada, where I kept my eyes closed and held onto my friends, Shaun and Doug, until the nice fellow in a Scream costume pointed us the way out ("Boo! This way, you guys. Have a nice day!" I love Canada). The other was put on by my little brother's middle school. ("OooooOOOOOooooh! I'm going to get you, Curt's Sister!")

By the way, my zombie movie is available for pre-order from Walmart.  

So, on our recent trip to Universal Studios Hollywood, I decided I was going to face my fears (literally), and make it through the House of Horrors. I watched several shaky, green, night-vision YouTube video walk-thoughs in preparation. In line, I checked out all the cheesy movie props on display, and noted how many ankle-biters were queued up with me. If a six year-old could do this, so could I. When the time came, I held up my head and bravely walked into the maze...

...45 seconds later, the Phantom of the Opera pointed out the first emergency exit along the path. I was in tears, and poor Thomas was in a not-insignificant amount of pain from my fingernails digging into his back and arm. I thanked the Phantom on the way out.

We hadn't even made it into the first room.

Wuss.

(Did I mention that my werewolf and demon infested movie is available at Amazon and Buy.com?)

With that, I can firmly attest that I will not be attending Halloween Horror Nights anytime soon. Not sober, anyway. However, some of you guys might be planning to attend (and I am extremely jealous of your constitutions), so I thought I'd give you a head's up on Hollywood's plans for this year.

According to Dread Central, you can look forward to five all-new horror mazes and one encore: the return of Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses: in 3D ZombieVision, rock-inspired Alice Cooper: Welcome To My Nightmare, Eli Roth's Hostel: Hunting Season, Diego Luna's folklorish La Llorana: Villa de Almas Perdidas (The Weeping Woman: Village of Lost Souls), and movie tie-ins The Thing: Assimilation, and The Wolfman: The Curse of Talbot Hall. A Backlot attraction, Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life, will pit riders against Ghostface from the Scream franchise.

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood begin September 23rd, and continue on select nights through October 31st. For tickets and further information, click here. I'll just be cowering in the corner, playing with my new floating ghost yard ornament. Two more weeks till I can decorate!

(P.S. The skeletons in my closet wanted me to tell you that their movie is at DeepDiscount, too. Hams.)