Beauty Savior: Leave-In Conditioners

My hair texture is the weirdest. It's straight yet wavy, shiny yet frizzy and very, very static-prone. I don't like putting a lot of product in my hair, because most of them weights it down. What I have been using religiously for the past 6-7 years are leave-in conditioners.

A Leave-In Conditioner serves many purposes:

• It gives hair moisture, making hair soft
  
• It detangles, making hair more manageable
  
• Protects against heat styling

How to Use:

Spray throughout wet hair, especially at the ends. Comb through to evenly distribute.

My favorite:
Aussie Hair Insurance Leave-In Conditioner: I just love Aussie products in general, it gives my dry hair so much moisture! This is my favorite one because it does everything I need. Some LIC's only detangle or only protect against heat spray. Aussie's does it all.

Year's Best

2007 has been a great year in beauty for me. I've come to understand many things about my hair, skin and body that I never have before. Now that I'm hitting my mid-20's, I no longer have the turbulent skin woes of my teenage years. Here's a toast to my favorite beauty finds of the year!

Aussie Hair Products
My hair is thinning as it is and I have a hard time finding hair products that support my thinning, frizzy, coarse hair. Aussie is inexpensive but works like a miracle! I especially love their Hair Insurance leave-in conditioner spray. I've been using different leave-in conditioners since high school and this one has to be the best. I'm also a big fan of their Deeep 3 Minute Miracle Moisture Treatment, it leaves my hair leaving soft and silky! There's a hair product for ever hair type in this line. It's not often that I share a product line wit my super-curly headed younger sister!

MAC Mineralize SkinFinish
Over the years, I switched back forth and forth between MAC and Shiseido for my foundation and concealer basics. I was in need of a serious update, when I got one by default. I took one of my best friends shopping at a MAC store because I was treating her to a bag full of MAC goodies for her 24th birthday. It was at this MAC brunch, that the makeup artist showed me the wonders of the MAC Mineralize line. I've never had a liquid foundation, powder or concealer look as fresh and smooth as this did. From then on, I was hooked, not to mention, my skin feels a lot better. I love the luminous glow it gives my skin.

MAC Prime+Prep Face Protect SPF 50
A search for the perfect face primer led me to this discovery. This product helps keep my skin soft while protecting my makeup on a daily basis. The high level of SPF makes me especially happy because I hate applying sunscreen separately and try to incorporate it into my products as much as possible. I simply cannot live without my MAC primer!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
This product is a blessing to all makeup lovers out there! Finally, something that actually delivers what it promises; to keep your eyeshadow from creasing. Ever since I tried a small sample of it, I've been totally hooked. It's quick-drying, keeps eyeshadow from creasing and makes the color more vibrant. I can go a full day without having to redo my eye makeup just because of this fabulous potion.

Levres Scintillantes Glossimer Lipgloss in Hibiscus
I wanted to invest in the perfect red lipstick and I thought, "what better place than Chanel to get it"? I did indeed find my perfect red lipstick but I also found the most perfect blood-red lipgloss to match! Just one swipe jazzes up my whole face and it never fails to bring me compliments.

Oil of Olay 2-in-1 toner and cleanse
I'm a facewash whore. I can never stick to one brand or kind of facial cleansing product. For the past two years, I've been using Origins. I ditched Origins once I discovered this miracle product that clarifies and cleanses all in one! I absolutely love this facewash and nothing has ever made me feel so refreshed. Now I know why most beauty experts swear by OFO.

Benefit '10' Blush
In 2007, I've bought blush more than anything else and this one reigns as my favorite! A light bronzer on one side and a subtle pink blush on the other, this product has great pigments. For a low-key look, I like to sweep it all over my face in place of foundation or powder and my skin radiates from it! Have you done the sexy swoop??

MAC Mattene Lipstick in Rougette
Matte is back, but not with the dryness of the '90's. 2007's matte lipstick is luxuriously rich while still keeping the sexy look of matte lips. MAC always makes the best lipsticks and their mattene line is no different. I picked up 'rougette', a deep berry-red and it's one of my favorite MAC lipsticks of all time.

MAC eyeshadow in Soba
Everyone needs a good neutral brown eyeshadow. This one is my favorite neutral because it has a little kick to it. This satiny golden brown eyeshadow has little flecks of gold in it which makes helps dress up the other eyeshadows I pair it up with or is subtly beautiful on its own, too.

Hollywood Glo
I love Benefit because they come up with the most innovative products within the sassiest packaging. This highlighing liquid bronzer is a perfect fit for my light caramel complexion and makes my face 'glo'.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Ammo Box
This is one of the best eyeshadow palettes I've ever owned. Urban Decay packed ten of their best-selling eyeshadows into this ten-year anniversary special palette. I've seen a lot of my friends own this--even non-beauty-junkies! If you watch your budget when it comes to makeup, this one is a really good investment.

Nars Crazed
This red blush is so hot! Nars makes the best blushes, hands down (in my opinion), and this is one their sassiest colors!

Maybeline Define-A-Lash Mascara
This inexpensive mascara works wonders on my long but sparse eyelashes. It beats many of the more pricier mascaras out there because of it's lash separating technology.