Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream

Feel free to jump on the bandwagon with me here. I am not the first, nor will I be the last to sing the praises of Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream. It's been around forever.

I received a gift bag with both the Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant and the Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant. Both are super moisturizing and sink in instantly. The lip protectant comes in a tube that makes it easy to use for on-the-go application. It smells and tastes faintly of citrus. I swipe it on before bed and my lips are fully hydrated in the morning.

The skin protectant has had a cult following for some time. It's been a long-standing staple backstage at the shows. Makeup artists keep a tube on hand for a variety of uses. It's more of a balm or salve than an actual cream, but it hydrates the skin with ease. Despite the subtle medicine closet-full-of-bandaids smell it is amazing. You can use it for dried-out, chapped skin, to create a natural-looking dewiness to skin, or combine with eyeshadow for a slick look.

And the Winner is.....

Sarah! Aug. 20- 10:30 am. Congratulations!

Email me with your info to thebeautybeatblog@gmail.com.

Sephora: My Addiction Is Your Gain

It's here! My 100th post. This one is going to be about one of my favorite stores, Sephora. I know I'm not alone in my addiction. I can't go in there without buying something, which is why try I to steer clear around when rent is due. Now, if I could pay my rent in beauty products...

I have purchased so many of my great beauty finds at Sephora. They carry everything from beauty staples to hard-to-find products (some of which are exclusive to Sephora) plus they have their own line, which is pretty great.

My latest haul included a bottle of OPI's- exclusive to Sephora- "Don't Feed the Hand Models" which is a near-perfect nude. Two coats and I had the greatest complement to my natural skin tone and the dreaded mannequin-hands were not a concern.

I also picked up a tube of Benefit's latest lash lengthener, They're Real. With this mascara no one will be able to tell.

I hopped on the colorful bandwagon and could not resist getting a tube of MAKEUP FOR EVER's Rouge Artist Intense #40 (satin bright orange). Despite its clownish hue in the tube, it could not be more wearable. One swipe and you've got a pretty sheer, almost coral color. Even adding a second coat, this orange is not scary at all. I consider this my beauty risk of the summer.

My final purchase was the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pads. These tiny little wet-naps for your face are designed to exfoliate and self-tan all in one. I must admit, it seemed counter-productive to exfoliate and self-tan together. But being that I just had to run the towelette over my face in a circular motion, I shrugged off my doubts. The wipe makes my face smell like a glass of wine, which is not a bad thing, and I woke up with a pretty and believable golden glow. Success!

And now onto the best part, as a reward for reading through this post along with the 99 before it, I'm giving away a $50 gift card to....you guessed it....Sephora! To enter please leave a comment with your favorite item Sephora carries. Enter by Tuesday, Aug. 23rd at 10 pm. I'll announce the winner Wednesday morning. Only one entry per person please. Good luck!

Chanel Stylo Yeux Waterproof doesn't disappoint

I know I've beaten the metaphorical purple horse to death on this blog. It's my favorite color, ok? If I were you, I would expect to see more of it and probably in the near future. Purple in all its variations is almost always featured as an it shade. Lucky for me!

Black eyeliner is a beauty staple, sure, but sometimes it's not the best choice for a 9 am staff meeting unless of course you're Courtney Love, in which case you probably wouldn't have 9 am staff meetings. Chanel came out with Cassis, a deep plum, as part of their Stylo Yeux Waterproof collection. Voila! Daywear that is ever so slightly sassy.

A dilemma that plagues me is eyeliner that disappears within an hour or slides down my eye during the course of the day leaving me looking like I slept in my makeup despite having just started my day. Neither is good. I find that waterproof is really my only option that can withstand the 9-5 . Chanel's waterproof liner is not only that but also smudge-proof. This liner just won't quit (the last photo is after running my hand under water and drying with a paper towel). Love this stuff. The only downside is sometimes it lasts a little too long. I committed a makeup sin and slept in my eye makeup, and then next morning I had a reddish tint in the corners of my eyes. After a momentary freak out, I realized it was just the eyeliner. Whew. Moral of this story, always take off your makeup before bed.

CLEAN Original Deodorant

I've always liked the idea of the CLEAN line. Who doesn't enjoy a shower fresh scent? And from a single soapy fragrance sprang an entire line which recently includes deodorant. Admittedly, it piqued my interest. However, I have been pretty happy using my clinical strength Secret.

On a particularly stiflingly hot day, I happened to be in the vicinity of the Sephora on Broadway. This place is always a madhouse, but I figured mid-afternoon on a Wednesday in July wouldn't be terrible. Wrong. The same girl bumped into me several times, I don't really know how we kept connecting in every single aisle. Anyway, I was on a mission. I wanted to try the CLEAN deodorant (actually, I needed it after walking several blocks in the sun). After wandering a bit, I found what I was looking for and as luck would have it they had one open for "testing." I use that word loosely because I seriously hope no one is applying the test deodorant in Sephora. Ewww. But I was able to smell it, which next to keeping me dry is the other determining factor. It has to smell good, amazing really, especially with an $18 price tag. I picked up the Warm Cotton and took a sniff, and I was instantly in love. You're probably looking at my photos thinking the package does not say Warm Cotton, instead it reads CLEAN Original.

Oh Sephora, I love you. But why oh why would you put a different fragrance behind the tester? I immediately grabbed the sealed package behind the tester (foolishly) assuming it was the same thing I had just smelled. Sadly, once I paid and ran out the door- not to mention the fact I opened it and applied instantly- I was slightly disappointed to find I had purchased the wrong fragrance. All was not lost though, I needed deodorant and if nothing else, it fit the bill in that department.

CLEAN Original is a very soapy-smelling fragrance with citrus notes. All in all, it's certainly not unpleasant. I would have much preferred to have gotten it right with the Warm Cotton (which hopefully I will be reviewing soon). But this one would at least let me test out the wetness fighting capabilities. Overall, it's not anything life-altering. It does not completely stop you from sweating but to be fair it's not an antiperspirant. It does, however, help reduce wetness and doesn't have any of the nasty chemicals you might find in other deodorants. It's free of aluminum, parabens, sulfates, mineral oil and artificial colors/dyes.

I won't be purchasing this again as it's a little too expensive for a simple deodorant. I think I'll just stick with my good old standby, Secret.

A Day at the Beach

I'm pretty particular (maybe a little obsessive at times) about a lot of things. One of the things I'm most particular about are scents. My ridiculously sharp sense of smell makes it incredibly hard for me to truly love a perfume.

I can't understand why so many fragrances hide behind syrupy-sweet notes. That type of perfume makes me nauseous. I've always adored the smell of the beach. I long for the day when you can literally bottle the sea air. Until that day comes I've been searching for the perfect beach smell.

Most tend to skew towards unnecessarily sweet, or simply don't smell like the beach in the slightest. And I've smelled a lot of so-called beach fragrances. Then one day I came across Bobbi Brown's Beach. I almost didn't even bother to spritz it on to test it. I figured there would be no way it could live up to its namesake.

Bobbi Brown's Beach immediately transports you to a day spent frolicking on the beach, playing in the sand, and splashing in the waves. Each time I was at the beach as a child I would inhale deeply, hoping to hold onto the scent for a bit longer. Now, I can just spray Beach with its subtle mingling of jasmine, sea spray and mandarin. It reminds me of suntan lotion mixed with salt water and it. is. AMAZING. It's not heavy so it's perfect for a hot summer day and lasts well into the evening. Outside of the real thing this scent is the closest you can come to pure beach.