Buy 3 Bath Scrubbies - Get A Fourth Free!

This month's HELLA GOOD promotion, which ends June 15th, involves my favorite bath product - the fruit-filled bath scrubby. Buy any 3 bath scrubbies and you get a fourth one free! You can read all the details here.

Feast your eyes on all our bath scrubby choices here. My favorite one is Hot & Steamy which is made with real cocoa powder and mini marshmallows, and man oh man, it smells so good. Hawaii Five-Ohhh!, which is made with real pineapple pieces, also makes my mouth water.

Don't forget to read the f.a.q. on how to get this awesome deal.

Posted in Hella Good News_

I Want This!

Oh man, it's stuff like this that makes me wish I had a million dollars to buy whatever I wanted. I so want this stone carved bath tub! I could kick back, use some of our HELLA GOOD bath products and relax! Some fresh flowers and scented candles would be just the right touch.

Posted in Random Musings_

Shiloh!

Angelina and Brad's baby girl, Shiloh Nouvel, was born on May 27 - just like me! Having been a May 27 baby myself, I can tell you that Angelina and Brad have their hands full. Congrats to the new parents!

Posted in Celebrity_

PHYTO Phytosylic Shampoo

Oh my goodness. Ever since I moved to Los Angeles I've had a problem with dandruff. To make matters worse, I'm allergic to pyrithione zinc, the active ingredient in most dandruff shampoos. Other dandruff shampoos contain coal tar, and I just refuse to put that on my head since it's a carcinogen. That is why I am sooooooo happy to re-discover Phyto's Phytosylic shampoo. Its active ingredients come from willow leaf extract and cypress essential oil. I had used it several years ago and completely forgot about it since it's a hard product to find. The shampoo, packaged in a glass bottle, is liquidy-thin like water. You let it sit on your scalp for three minutes before rinsing. A little goes a long way - and best of all, it works! According to the company, it works for 84% of users. It costs $22 and is available at Sephora.com and Drugstore.com.

Posted in Beauty Products_

Tomorrow's My Birthday

When I was 8 years old I stumbled upon a paperback that belonged to my grandmother. It had a woman on the cover with only a man's shirt on and maybe only 3 of the buttons buttoned. The title of the book was something like, Faster Man Faster . I knew this was a book that would hold dark secrets inside. Boy, was I excited! I wanted to know why a woman would wear only a man's shirt with so much skin exposed. At the time I wore flannel night gowns that dragged on the floor past by heels.

I got to about page 2 when my grandmother caught me reading it. She took the book from me and said that when I turned 13 I'd be allowed to read it. I counted on my fingers from 11 to 13 and the 5 years that stood between me and that book seemed like an eternity.

I never got to read the book. When I turned 13 my grandmother claimed she didn't know what book I was talking about with the same kind of innocence she displayed when I was 7 and asked what the word "virgin" meant - a word I had heard on my favorite TV Show, The Love Boat.

So, tomorrow's my birthday. I wish I was turning 13 again. No, I wish I was 11 again - a time when I was in love with Gopher from the Love Boat, thought "virgin" was some sort of illness and with the knowledge I have today, I would've hid the book better from my grandmother, or at least flipped to the good stuff before getting caught.

xo,


"Birthday Girl" Mei-Lynn

P.S. I just got a message from Steve Jones (from the Sex Pistols):

happy birthday at 12 bells hours darling,
the pontiff loves ya.

Yippeee!

Pretty High Ball Glasses

Oh my. I just love these hi-balls. They are so summery and pretty. It makes me want to make a tall glass of lemonade the way Grandma used to make it - with Country Time's powdered lemonade mix - while sitting on the veranda. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes around the house are monster-size and for some reason they think I have they sweetest blood in the neighborhood.

Lipstick Cocktail #3 - Patti Peters from The Wing Thing Has A Natural Lipstick Combo

Our third Lipstick Cocktail comes from Patti Peters from The Wing Thing, an artisan jewelry store.

The Lipsticks: M.AC. lip pencil in Spice and Blistex lip balm (SPF 15).


The Process: "First, I outline my lips with the pencil, then fill in the rest of the lip area. Then, I apply the lip balm."

Patti's Skin Tone: "Fair skin, auburn hair, brown eyes."

The Bottom Line: "I love this shade, and I love how it complements my complexion. It's the best! It's the perfect reddish brown. And by applying the Blistex on top, you get a nice shine without that sticky feeling that you can get with a gloss."

Posted in Lipstick Cocktails_

Win a $1,000 Sephora Gift Card and Product!

Sephora.com is hosting a Best of Sephora 2006 Sweepstakes. There are 4 products to vote on in 24 categories, and just by voting which of the four in each category you think is the best, you get entered to possibly win a $1,000 gift card and the winning product in each of the 24 categories. Woo hoo! I voted. So hurry on over and vote now.

If I were to win a $1,000 gift card to Sephora, after I swooned with delight, I think these are some of the products I would get. I have no idea how effectively they work, but I've been drooling over them since I saw them:

GoSMILE teeth whitening kit, $120, because I am obsessed with white teeth. I used to want to have teeth the brilliant white of a (brand new) toilet bowl. Although now I don't need it that white, I still want an "Oh my god, her teeth are so white!" reaction. It's still a dream.

Dr. Brandt's Crease Release, $150 - supposedly is like topical Botox. I have this horrid crease between my brows that I just hate, but I'm too chicken to get real Botox. I say this even though I'm living in the capitol of Botox parties.

JOHNATHAN beauty water purification system, $95. Hairstylist Johnathan thinks washing your hair with bottled water makes all the difference in the world when it comes to your hair's shine, manageability and overall health. This little puppy filters your shower water so it's like bathing in spring water every day. I so need this!

Posted in Beauty Product_

skin

Easy Straight Product Review

Easy Straight is an at-home product that claims to professionally straighten your curly hair. It seemed too good to be true, so we got a first-hand scoop from a friend who tried it:

Why is it we never appreciate what we have when we have it? I can't even begin to count up the hours I wasted and the amount of money I spent on hair products desperate to curl my straight-as-a-board, super shiny, half-Asian hair. How I envied my high school friends and their big Texas hair. I didn't understand why when I slept in those tacky, pink sponge rollers that my hair was back to its straight roots (puns!) within 5 minutes. You name it, I tried it - curling irons, hot rollers, pin curls, even a crimping iron.

Eventually I gave up that losing battle. And right when I began to love the fact that I could wash and go and still end up with perfect hair while others spent hours with a straightening iron, my hair betrayed me. One day, somewhere between 28 and 29, I woke up and literally overnight my hair was wavy. Suddenly, I had to worry about the dreaded frizz. My hairdresser was as surprised as I was. So, when I saw the ad for Easy Straight, I felt like salvation was as close as the Walgreen's down the street. Immediately, I began to imagine the hair of my youth. Basically, I had a Pantene commercial in my head starring me.

That night, I went to purchase my holy grail of hair products. The claims of perfectly straight hair for a week had my giddy with excitement. According to the directions, in just 30 short minutes my hair would be straight, Easy Straight. 30 minutes, eh? Try closer to an hour. I do, however, have waist-long hair and it is kind of thick. I followed the 3 easy steps and waited anxiously.

The first step involved putting in a gel-like lotion that made my bathroom smell like that time in the 5th grade I begged my mother to give me a perm (big mistake, but that's another story for another time). You use as little or as much as you think you need, wait 20 minutes for unprocessed hair and less for colored and highlighted hair. Then rinse. Step two has you using the entire bottle of "sealer", wait 7 to 8 minutes and rinse. For the last step apply a cream, once again as much or as little as you want but this time no rinsing. The box says to wait 24 hours before your next shampoo.

How did it work? Well... they, whoever they are, were right. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. My hair was not straight. It was still wavy. I will admit, however, that it has been less frizzy and a little softer. I considered doing it again in a few weeks. I thought maybe I didn't use enough of the step one gel. But recently, I've done a few online searches for the product, which I should have done in the first place, and the stories of people's hair breaking off, falling out and bald patches [Ed: also check out this forum and this one] have deterred me from attempting it ever again. My disappointment about my wavy hair has quickly became gratitude that I don't look like Mr. Clean.

And there you have it. Easy Straight, try it at your own risk.

-Review by Selene Benjamin

Got a product review? Send it to us at beautytips@hellagoodproducts.com.


Posted in Beauty Products_

hair

Something Funny

This isn't beauty-related, but this joke was passed onto me (thanks Sharla!) and I thought it was funny:

One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, the wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors, and reads her book.

Along comes a Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?"

"Reading a book," she replies, (thinking, "Isn't that obvious?")

"You're in a Restricted Fishing Area," he informs her.

"I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm reading."

"Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up."

"If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault," says the woman.

"But I haven't even touched you," says the game warden.

"That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment."

"Have a nice day ma'am," and he left.

MORAL: Never argue with a woman who reads. It's likely she can also think.

Posted in Random Ramblings_

Jude Law - Part 2

Okay, I got a couple of emails from folks who wanted to know what Jude was wearing at the Wadsworth. I guess my description of his shoes weren't sufficient...ha. So here's a more detailed description for all you Jude fans.

Tara and I arrived at the Wadsworth about 30 min. before the show started at 3 pm. We waited outside for our friend Selene who was parking. While we waited, Tara says, "Ooh, it's Jude Law!" So I was like, "Where? WHERE?" Well, he was standing only 10 feet away from me with a very tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a light white shirt. Because the man was so tall and broad, Jude looked very thin and short beside him. However, Jude was very handsome. He had on a collarless denim-type jacket with a rusty/green hue to the fabric. It was closed so I couldn't see what shirt he had on. He wore straight-legged jeans, and the reason why I noticed his burgundy shoes was because it was the only splash of color to his mostly dark blue outfit.

Jude is very good at avoiding eye contact. Also, he was left pretty much alone. I didn't see anyone go up to him.

My friends and I had cheap-o seats to the extreme left of the stage. The seats weren't the greatest, but if I turned my head just slightly I had a perfect unobstructed diagonal view of Jude's face. He sat about 5 rows from the stage, dead-center. He spent the majority of the time before the show started reading his Playbill. Someone beside him said something to him and I saw him laugh.

In one scene of Salome, Salome has to dance for the king (Al Pacino). The actress does a very pretty dance which ends with her going topless. I did look to see Jude's reaction since he had a straight-on view. He had no reaction, just continued watching intently.

Okay, folks, that's all the Jude Law info I have.

Posted in Celebrity News_

celebrities

Al Pacino at the Wadsworth Theatre

I've just returned from watching the great Al Pacino on the stage at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles. The play, or rather the theatrical reading, was Salome written by Oscar Wilde, about the princess Salome who dances for her stepfather the king (Pacino) in exchange for John the Baptist's head. Okay, Al Pacino was AMAZING - the man has stage presence. He was also very funny.

Also in the audience was Jude Law and Vincent Gallo (not sitting together). Jude had on very nifty burgandy leather shoes with a pointed tip and a buckle and Vincent looked, well, scruffy in some sort of beige polyester 70's vest and matching pants. George Clooney was supposed to be there, but I didn't see him at all - big bummer!

All in all, a wonderful day!

Posted in Random Musings_

celebrities

Estee Lauder's Maximum Cover: Camouflage Make-Up for Face and Body SPF 15

I'm prone to pigmentation. Any little zit, mosquito bite, skin irritation, etc. and I'm left with a dark spot for months until it fades. Although this facial make-up by Estee Lauder is marketed as a foundation for things like port wine stains, it is miraculous as a concealer. $28.50 may seem steep for concealer, but it lasts forever! You just need the smallest amount, like just a drop of this creamy, thick make-up and you dab, dab, dab it on your dark spot. Finish off with brushing your face with transluscent powder, and voila, spots are gone and you look awesome. Comes in 5 shades (I used Medium Deep). Just promise me you won't use the green version - green really shouldn't be on your face.

Posted in Beauty Products_

In The Pink

I tweaked my blog a bit and now it's very pink. I like it. Good things are pink: the movie Pretty in Pink, the song "Pretty in Pink" by the Psychedelic Furs, cotton candy, that fragrance Pink Sugar by Aquolina (smells like upscale cotton candy - yum!), pink cupcakes, and when I've had too many cupcakes and cotton candy, Pepto-Bismo. I hope you like it! The pink against the brown background reminds me of chocolate and strawberries. I'm very food-oriented, as you can see.

Which reminds me, a new cupcake place opened up by me and it is the new crack. I have gone 3 days in a row and have had all sorts of yummy cupcakes (their frosting is delicious) like a lemon cream cheese cupcake, butterfinger cupcake and french toast cupcake (with maple syrup frosting!).

Off the subject of food, if any one has a beauty tip for us or a beauty product review, just contact me at beautytips@hellagoodproducts.com - i'd love to hear it!

Posted in Random Musings_

Soraya Dies at 37

Soraya, the 2003 Latin Grammy Winner, died Wednesday at the age of 37. She lost her fight against breast cancer, a disease that took her grandmother, aunt and mother's lives. Soraya not only had a beautiful voice, she also was a beautiful woman inside and out. She worked hard even in the end to educate women to get mammograms for early breast cancer detection.

On her website she wrote to her fans the day before she died that she knew her time had come to an end:

"I have not lost this battle, because I know the fight was not in vain. Instead, it will help end a larger battle, which is early detection to prevent this terrible disease."

She will be greatly missed.

****
An easy way to help disadvantaged women get free mammograms is to go to The Breast Cancer Site and click the banner each day. Each click helps fund a mammogram, and it's free for you to do.

Posted in Celebrities_

24 Hours Ultra Rich Face Cream by L'Occitane

Ooh, I can't say enough nice things about this facial cream by L'Occitane. It's a cream that was recommended for my skin type by Dr. Baumann in her book, The Skin Type Solution. I have sensitive dry skin, and this cream has really helped with the dryness and flakiness without being excessively oil. Although it may seem like an expensive purchase ($34 for only 1.7 oz), you only need a small dab for your entire face. 24 Hours Ultra Rich Face Cream has 25% shea butter in it and my skin just drinks it up. I put it on before bed, and when I wake up in the morning, my skin looks smoother and feels soft. Most importantly, it hydrates without irritating my sensitive skin.

Posted in Beauty Products_

My Heart & Stress

This is a short post just to let you know that I'm around, just undergoing a lot of stress this week. So much stress that I started to have chest pains over my heart which made me then stress out more that I was going to have a heart attack. So, I went to urgent care last night to get my heart checked out. The doctor said I was too young to have a heart attack. I had an EKG just to double-check. My heart was fine - perfect. He laughed and said that women my age don't have heart attacks unless they are hard core drug users (which, if you knew me, that would be a laughable thing - I'm so not a drug using kinda girl). He said, Learn how to relax.

Stress can come in many forms. I have one friend who also gets chest pains. Another friend, her body shows stress by making her face red and swollen. Stress can age you and harm you physically and mentally.

I am on a quest to figure out how to handle my stress. One friend suggested I meditate. I'm a lousy meditator. I sit and think about stuff I know I shouldn't be thinking about - like random trivial things such as, What's for lunch?

Baths really help me relax, and it's something I have not been doing for the last month because of my hectic schedule. I need to make time even when I think there is no time. Ah, I think I will take a bath tonight and just relax. I think my heart will thank me.

E.T.A.: I have since learned that you can have a heart attack at any age without being a hardcore drug user. Hmpf. Although I believe my chest pains were caused by stress, if you are suffering from chest pains and truly feel as though something is wrong with your heart, don't ignore it just because you think you're too young for a heart attack. And, if you don't think your doctor is taking your health or complaints seriously, get a second opinion.

Posted in Random Musings_

Sale at Elle B!

Last year we raffled off a pair of Elle B. earrings to one lucky HELLA GOOD customer. I'm a fan of Elle B - the earrings are funky and original. They sparkle and shine, and best yet, they're currently on sale for 50% off!

Elle B. will soon be offering only vintage beaded jewelry in contemporary styles. So, all the non-vintage goodies on her site must go.

You can view this unbelieveable sale at:

http://www.ellebstyle.com/sale.html

Have fun shopping! I have 4 pairs headed my way. In case you're wondering, I'm getting Frolic, Hippy Chick, Swirly Blue and Tangerine. Unfortunately for you, every piece is literally one-of-a-kind, so once it's sold, it's gone forever!