FEET!!!!

Based on the photo you see, you probably have a good idea what this post is about.

Lately I have had some other activities going on in my life and have neglected my blog. I apologize! At any rate, I've been racking my brain to come up with some great topics to post about. I have noticed that my posts about the "rockabilly scene" often get the most hits, so that was something to touch on again. Today, I thought I'd have lunch and start my post, but THEN, as I wait for my salad a woman walks in to pick up her take-out, with horribly dry cracked heels. ACKKK!!! That's when I knew I had to make a plea to all of you out there that neglect your feet. You are human, you should not have hooves!!!!

Okay, lemme just tell you that dry, gross, cracked feet are not only extremely disgusting, but a major pet peeve of mine. I don't like feet to begin with, so this is thee worst! I just don't understand how people don't see how gross that is! And they are the ones that are always walking around in fucking sandals!!!

This isn't my usual "how to" post, because once someone allows their feet to get this bad, there is nothing I can do...they need a professional! I have (because I'm extremely curious and not afraid to ask) asked people whats going on with their dry ass feet. Why not get a pedicure and do some at home up keep? They always respond, "I can't go in for a pedicure, it's embarrassing!", and walking around town in flip flops isn't?! Man, swallow your pride and get it done!!! If you are reeeeally that self conscious about going to the little Asian lady down the street (who will no doubt talk shit about your nasty feet, in Korean, to all the other little gals there) why not head down to your local beauty supply or even Target and get a good deep penetrating foot balm and a heavy duty pumice stone and work all that shit down a bit?

I personally don't get pro pedicures, it's a waste of money. Every time I've gone, they never do a great job and not only does it piss me off, but I'm afraid of getting infections and fungi. Besides, its kinda therapeutic for me to do my own mani/pedi at home. Yes, I'll admit that I SUCK at the polishing part, but I figure it out. Anyway, I guess I'm lucky because I don't get all that callusy grossness and hardly ever have to pumice my feet, but none the less, I still scrub them and lotion them!

Listen, if you have gross feet, take care of it, or at lease wear sneakers or something! If you have heels like the person in the picture above and you are afraid to go to a professional (I really don't even know if they cando anything for you, you might have to see a Podiatrist), then here are a few things that you can purchase and use to help the situation out. I said this wasn't a "how to", but I can't help it. Keep in mind, once you get this under control, spend the $50 and go to a really good salon and get an extensive pedicure. Take care of it, then do the up keep with these supplies and no one will ever throw up on your feet again!

TWEEZERMAN Sole Mate Pedicure Tool $20
This is a cool little invention. The "cheese grader" part is used to grade off all that dead skin and it's all contained inside like a pencil sharperner, so there's no mess! The metal part is a file to use as well. This is what you want to use to get all that rough stuff off.

TWEEZERMAN Pedicure Solutions $50

This little kit comes with all you will need to fix your feet and all the up keep. Toenail clippers, cuticle nippers, files, cuticle pusher, callus stone, wooden pedi sticks and a case. So you'll clip your nails, clip any hang nails, push back your cuticles and sand down any calluses.
BLISS Softening Socks $48

These socks are the Cadillac of socks. The have a moisure gel pad inside that delivers all this great stuff to hydrate and soften your feet and calluses. They're good for like 50 uses. Keep in mind newbies, you can pretty much get the same results (for less) by using a great moisture balm and regular socks. The best time to do this is before bed and wear the socks over night.

BLISS Foot Patrol $18
This is just an example of a exfoliating and softening cream. You can get this and wear your own socks at night. You can also moisturize with it after you shower in the morning. The key point is to moisturize constantly, that is whats going to help.

Alright nasty foot people, get to work!!!!! NO SANDALS until you have human feet again!!!

All products available at www.sephora.com

tokidoki at Sephora

As corny as it may seem and so out of character for me as it is, I think that the tokidoki stuff is so extra cute! Now I don't know if I'd go out and buy all their stuff, but I do enjoy looking at it, and I'm sure that the next time I'm in Sephora I will check out the pigment in the eyeshadow (I'm a slave to dark deep color). Aside from all of that, I thought this cute new makeup line was blog worthy. Some of you may have kids into this and it could make a great gift!

Here is some of what Sephora has to say about the line. "Inspired by classic tokidoki characters, each limited-edition Cromatico Eyeshadow Palette holds four coordinated, high-pigment shades plus a collectible charm that hooks onto tokidoki key chains and makeup bags. The vibrant shadows are formulated with natural rice lipids and vitamin B, so they blend beautifully while also hydrating the delicate eye area. Explore both your criminally cute and irresistibly edgy sides with expert eye color that shows your love for tokidoki."

I'm lame and corny and nerdy, we know...so I'm putting this stuff in too, cuz I thought it was super extra cuteMeet Adios and Ciao Ciao Adios spent 500 years in fire and brimstone before the Devil discovered his good-natured ways and kicked him out of Hell. Too mischievous for Heaven, Adios was condemned to live forever on earth in a modern grave-loft with his girlfriend Ciao Ciao and their cat Skeletrino. Together, they wander the world, sharing with others how to make the most out of this life.

Meet Mozzarella, Bulleto, Choco, Soya and Strawberry Latte Mozzarella leads the Moofia, a gang assembled to extort milk from the lunchboxes of schoolyard bullies. Mozzarella and the Moofia are loving and kind to good kids, but ruthless and feared by those who harass the innocent. By taking milk from the bad and giving it to the good, they know the good will grow up strong and healthy to protect themselves. To the Moofia, milk is power and protection.

Meet SANDy, Bastardino, and the Cactus Pups To SANDy and her friends, the cactus is a sign of protection, while kids are naïve, vulnerable, and in need of protection. The Cactus Friends zip themselves into cactus suits as armor against a cold and scary world. The cactus is the conserver of water, and water means life. To Simone, the Cactus Friends represent life: Fragile and strong at the same time, yet pure like water. For more tokidoki characters and stories, check out www.tokidoki.it

Okay anyway...This cute Italian boy created the characters and here he is using the "perfetto eyeliner" ($16 each) to draw them on himself.

Each color comes along with a character and is named after it. These are just a few (well more than a few) of them. By the way, these are all the Cromatico ($15) shadow colors.

Cromatico Shadow Sets $25

Mascara $18 & Eyeliner Pencil $15

Bronzer $22 Luminizer $22 Brush $28

Lip Gloss & Lip Stain $15

Tank $29.50

Key Chain $16

Makeup Cases $20 - $42

There's probably a lot of other shit you can find, but I think you get the point. ha ha! For more info go to www.sephora.com

H&M Is Coming to Ventura!

I remember when Ventura was a town people stopped at for gas on their way to Santa Barbara. Now this sleepy little beach town is a hustle and bustle on the weekends (and even during the week) with out of towners and locals. Downtown has a movie theatre, quite a few great restaurants, a pizza spot that's open after hours, an American Apparel, an Urban Outfitters, and now our mall is starting to shape up to a top spot! It started with an opening of a large Forever 21 (which, after all the new remodels, has turned into a small store...but it still works for me), there's a Coach store, and Aldo (which I love), and soon a Sephora and an H&M! Thousand Oaks and Santa Barbara don't even have an H&M!!! Woo Hoo for Ventura!

Sephora opens in May and there is no set date for H&M yet, but it's taking over like 3 or more stores, so it's going to be HUGE! Good-bye Abercrombie, hello great shopping for Courtney!

For those of you that aren't familiar with H&M...The first store was opened in Sweden (gotta love those Swedes for Ikea too), today H&M operates in 37 countries and has 74,000 employees in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Canada, and the US. H&M was in New York forever and just in the last few years opened it's first West Coast store in Pasadena and in the Beverly Center. Now there are stores popping up in all major areas INCLUDING little ol' Ventura!

H&M offers great fashion (and quality) at reasonable prices, not just for women, but for teens, men, and children as well. It's fab shopping for the whole famn damily! If you can't wait until the store opens, you can always hit up the two story store at the Topanga Mall (the closest to us). That's were I have been doing my H&M shopping since it opened.

Beautiful Eyebrows

Growing up I had thick dark brows that were the envy of all the women in my family. My grandmother would scold me for "coloring them in" and making them so dark, until she finally realized that they were naturally that dark. My mother encouraged me to make my one brow into two brows, that was a leap into teen hood for me. ha ha! My aunt would tell me about how thick and beautiful her brows were until she went crazy tweezing them, and now she has just remnants of what used to be, that she has to fill in with a pencil. At around age 16, one of my fashion forward goth girlfriends told me that my brows were hideously bushy and then gave me the run down on maintaining a gorgeous brow (despite the fact that she had 4 hairs total and the rest was pencil). Since then I have been a slave to balanced beautiful brows. Working in the fashion and beauty industry, my Esthetician friends always wanted to know who did my brows. The answer was always "me!" because after years of obsessing, I never let anyone else touch them. Bad brows have become a pet peeve of mine. I can not understand how people walk out of the house with lines drawn on, or brows shaped like sperm, or just nasty un-groomed caterpillars! Here are some guidelines for those of you that fall into those categories, and also for those of you that just want to learn a little more.

Here are some step by step tips for finding the right eyebrows shape.

Step 1
Use a straight edged object (a pencil or orange stick works well) and hold it vertically along the side of your nose so it reaches up to where your eyebrow starts (1.) The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where it should naturally start.

Step 2
Use the pencil again, look straight ahead and line up the pencil with the center of your pupil. The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where your arch should naturally start (2.).

Step 3
Hold the pencil at a diagonal from the outer corner of your eye to the corner of your nose so it extends up over your eyebrow. The place where the pencil meets your eyebrow is where your brow should end naturally (3).

Step 4
Repeat the steps for your other eye.

How To Tweeze Eyebrows Step By Step

The best time to tweeze eyebrows is after a hot bath since your pores will be wide open.
Make sure you have enough light to see every hair and exactly what you’re doing and you don’t end up taking out a hair you didn’t want to. A magnifying mirror is great for being able to zone in on every little hair.

Step 1 - Brush the eyebrows up and away to show the natural shape.
Step 2 - Use your fingers to hold the area above the eyebrow taut.
Step 3 - Using the tweezers, grip the hair as close to the root as possible.
Step 4 - Pull it out in the direction in which the hair grows with one swift motion.
Step 5 - Tweeze the hairs moving back and forth between the brows to make sure they stay balanced.
Step 6 - Wipe the area with a little toner on a cotton ball to close your pores.

Simple Tips For Eyebrow Tweezing

1. Use smooth fast movements to remove the hair (less pain for you).
2. Numb the area with ice or skin numbing cream.
3. Only remove one hair at a time for the least amount of pain.
4. Use white eyeliner pencil to mark the hairs you want to remove.
5. Unless yours are very bushy, never pluck eyebrows from the top.

Eyebrow Grooming Step by Step
Well kept eyebrows make you look gorgeous without any makeup at all! They give your face structure and make it look more balanced. Properly arched and groomed eyebrows open up your eyes making them look bright and youthful. Here are the two eyebrow grooming steps to take yours from bushy to breathtaking.

Step 1
Use a brow brush to smooth them out by brushing upwards and outwards.
If you do it that way it gives your eyebrow the most natural flow. Using a brow brush also gets extra powder and foundation out of your brow hairs.

Step 2
After you’ve brushed them properly you can set them by using a clear brow gel or clear mascara.
That will help you to control the hairs and keep them from going where ever they please.

Simple Tips For Eyebrow Grooming
After you’ve combed the brows up and out you might notice some of the hairs stick out further than they should. A quick and easy solution for this is to trim your brows with a brow trimming scissor.
Take the brow scissor and holding it horizontally carefully snip the extra length from the top of your brows.
Finish it off by brushing through your brows one more time then set your brows with a gel to make the hairs lie down completely.

EXAMPLES OF GREAT BROWS:

EXAMPLES OF HORRIBLE BROWS:

SOME GREAT BROW PRODUCTS I RECOMMEND:

BENEFIT BROW ZING $30 www.sephora.com

BENEFIT SHE LAQ $30 www.sephora.com

TWEEZERMAN TWEEZERS $20 www.sephora.com

ANASTASIA BROW KIT $75 www.sephora.com

M.A.C BROW LINE www.maccosmetics.com

Good luck and happy tweezing!!!!

TARINA TARANTINO at Sephora

Celebrities, fashion stylists, and girls across the world know Tarina Tarantino—the "Queen of Irreverent Luxury"—as the accessory designer who makes everything she touches pink and sparkly. This hot pink-haired former makeup artist now shares her passion for self-expression and playfulness with a complete cosmetics collection, available at Sephora. Inspired by her retro-yet-modern jewelry line, Tarina developed products with high-quality, color-rich formulas and luxuriously Tarantino packaging. Although you won't find Hello Kitty or Barbie here, TARINA TARANTINO will take girls of all ages on a fantastical journey, where they can express their own personal style and reveal their inner sparkle.

Tarina has brought four different color line options, a perfume and body sparkle, makeup brushes, and four gorgeous color collections. Don't forget her super cute bracelet and hair clip to complete your experience.

http://www.sephora.com/
http://www.ttbeauty.com/

My Favorite Beauty Products

I have some favorite products and I would just like to thank them for helping me keep my look together. Yay!!! I thought it would be a fun idea to share them with you, and here are some of my tips for use.

BUMBLE & BUMBLE Hair Powder: I absolutely adore this stuff! It's a dry shampoo and can be used to absorb any oils on the scalp or at the roots of your hair. I LOVE that it comes in five shades, so it can also be used as root coverage if you are due for a touch up, but haven't the time. I found it's great as a root lifter when I do a pomp too. I spray a bit at the roots and let it dry (it dries much faster than an actual root lifter product that you usually have to blow dry) then back comb. It hold great! I also like to use it as a product cover-up. If you've used a lot of hair product (for an updo or a slick pony), and need to refresh your style , but haven't the time to wash first, just comb and if you have any flaky bits, just cover it up with the powder to conceal.
black, brown, red, blondish, & white. 1 oz $19 or 4 oz $35

products can be purchased at a salon that carries this line or on their website www.bumbleandbumble.com

T3 refresh Volumizing Dry Shampoo (light/auburn/dark) 3.3 oz $25

Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo 4.5 oz $18

Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo 1.4 oz $11 or 3.2 oz $21

all products can be purchased at Sephora or www.sephora.com

BENEFIT She Laq: This is a makeup sealer. This is a life saving product for especially long days when you can't stop and re-do your makeup. It comes with an applicator and 4 brushes. You can use it to seal your eyeliner, mascara, shadow, and my favorite...eyebrows. I use eyeshadow to shape and darken my brows and it definitely does not stay put all day. With this product over it, my brows ain't goin' nowhere! I love it!!! When it dries it does make your skin feel a little tight, but after a bit it's like nothing is there. .05 oz $30

BENEFIT Stay Don't Stray: A makeup sealer that's used to lock in eye makeup. It can be used all around the eye to keep not only your eyeshadow in place, but also your concealer under your eye. The great part is it keeps eyeshadow from creasing! It also has vitamins and locks in moisture. I'm all for products that help keep the signs of aging away. $24

products can be purchased at a Benefit counter, Sephora or www.sephora.com DERMALOGICA Multi Active Toner: A toner is a spritz that not only refreshes the skin, but assists with hydration. It prepares the skin for proper moisture absorption. I use this after I do an at home facial or just after I wash my face. It closes your pores and keeps the moisture locked in. I find that it keeps me from getting oily throughout the day. I like to keep mine in the refrigerator in the summertime and pull it out to refresh my skin on warm days. I carry it with me to the beach or the pool to keep my skin from drying out. 8.4 oz $30

DERMALOGICA Special Clearing Booster: An acne clearing product that I swear by! Contains 5% Benzoyl Peroxide, Zinc Sulfate, Sage, and Tea Tree. Used as a spot treatment to dry up acne or can be used as a booster with your moisturizer. I like using it as a spot treatment. I have used it on the deepest zits and it drys them up in a couple of days. I love it! 1 oz $42

all products can be purchased from a skin care salon that used Demalogica or at www.demalogica.com

M.A.C Pro Lash & Zoom Lash: I really love M.A.C mascara because the consistency is awesome and the black is the blackest I have ever used (and I have used a lot). They also have a variety of different types of mascara, but I find the best results come from mixing them. I use both of these mascaras together most of the time. Zoom lash is more volumizing and defines the lash and Pro lash lengthens and thickens. Together they form the perfect lash! I recommend these two, but you can check out the many others they have and form your own "perfect lash". $13 and can be purchased at any counter, Pro Store or at www.maccosmetics.com