Lots of you know that I love make-up and hair. I grew up in and around salons that my mother owned and several of my sisters are, or were at some point, stylists. Further, as I mentioned before, my father owned 4 beauty schools. People, this stuff is in my blood.

My mother made me promise that I would go to college and not beauty school and I kept my promise. All the while, I labored in front of bathroom mirrors up and down the state of California doing my friends hair and make-up for different occasions. For years, as I well paid for a career in politics, I was thankful that my interest in beauty was no more than a side gig. Now that I sit working as a glorified secretary, the salon life doesn’t seem so bad.

Anyhow, I digress. Over the years my friends have often asked for my advice on skin care products or lip gloss or hairspray and I have offered many a suggestion. I have tried most hair care lines and I have purchased a small fortune’s worth of beauty products. There are some things that I LOVE and I am always passing on my favorites to people I know. I decided that once a week I would share some favorites with my readers along with some hints on application and pairings that have worked for me. Today we are starting with my Top 5 make-up picks.

The List

1. Boi-ing concealer by Benefit.

Hands down the best concealer I have ever used. For those of you saying to yourself – what is concealer? Unless you are under 25, you better find out. Apply a little of this under your eyes, with a brush, prior to putting on the rest of your make-up. You will look rested and younger than you did fresh out of the shower. Hint: generally you want a concealor about 2 shades lighter than your face make-up. If it isn’t lighter, your under eyes will look baggy.

2. MAC tinted lip glass

Do not confuse this gloss with MAC’s other glosses (luster glass, plush glass or dazzle glass). This is the their best gloss, it stays on, doesn’t feather and comes in a ridiculous array of colors. I think MAC hit gold when they created the three Viva Glam colors (VI SE, VI and V). Most women could pull off any of those colors on any given day. Hint: Use a similar color liner with your gloss and it will stay on better.

3. L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara in Carbon Black

First of all, L’Oreal’s web page is lame and I couldn’t grab a picture for you to see this product but you can go here and see it for yourself.

 I love the telescopic mascara because of the brush specifically – I think it gives great volume and length. Now I had always believed that Lancome made the best mascara. They are kind of known for that. However, here’s a little secret – L’Oreal owns Lancome. Not all of their products are comparable – for instance I wouldn’t use L’Oreal foundation but that is just me. When it comes to mascara, it really is a toss up between the $21 Lancome mascara and the $8 L’Oreal one – so why not go with the cheaper product that you can pick up at Target when you are also buying socks and microwave popcorn? Hint: black mascara is best, even if you are fair skinned. For best application place the brush close to the base of your eyelid and slowly drag/tug the wand up and out. This will force your lashes to gather a little at the outer part of your eye, giving you a sexy effect.

4. Foundation: pick your poison.

For those of you looking for more fuller coverage and smooth application I think Benefit once again produces the best product: Playsticks. It is easy to apply (again with a brush) and it lasts all day. I think liquid foundation can be a scary thing for oily skin (that’s me) so this dense make-up provides the perfect mix of coverage and shine free wear.

Now for those of you just looking to take a little “edge” off of your skin I have two products to recommendand- I use them both. Generally I pick one of these on the days that I am not working but still don’t want to scare people at the grocery store.

The first ( shown above) is Philosophy’s the Supernatural. This is a great mineral based foundation that you can put on quickly and go. This stuff is truly great for a busy mom who wants a little polish but doesn’t have a lot of time.

The second product is one you are all familiar with  – Bare Escentuals (or Bare Minerals). This stuff is everywhere, all over television, Sephora and the magazines. It is a great product and I used it for 2 straight years. However, after a while I felt like I needed more smoothing coverage so I switched but I can still say that the product itself is everything it promises to be.

5. MAC eyeshadow – various shades

I have searched high and low for a make-up line with eye colors as good as MAC. People here is the deal – RESISTENCE IS FUTILE. No matter how much the MAC counter bugs you because the boys are wearing make-up, you must brave the GLAM and go to the Holy Land of eye products. While everyone will vary as to what color works for them I believe that all girls should own the color Shroom by MAC. It is perfect pale shadow that will feel dressy to those who don’t normally wear shadow and it will be a great highlighter to the braver souls who like some spice in their lives. Hint: If you have brown eyes, pair Shroom with Mulch, Cork or Woodwinked for a soft smokey eye. For blue eyes, pair Shroom with a little Knight Devine for a dressy look. Green eyed girls can pair Shroom with Juxt or Greensmoke.

Well there you have it. Concealor, foundation, mascara, lip gloss and eye shadow. Next week I am going to list my favorite skin care products, research on this topic has cost me the annual budget of a third world country but c’est la vie!

If you have any questions – feel free to email me or comment, I will do a post with Q&A if I get enough responses. Until then, happy make-up application to you all!

As I was driving to work on this momentous day (ha ha ha) I was thinking about what I want for my birthday. Or more accurately, what I want for this 32nd year of my life. Needless to say there are a lot of things that I want to see happen this year – get out of debt, loose ten pounds, run another race, etc. However, my mind kept going back to one thing: my brother.

A few months ago I wrote about how my mom and dad met and how he died very unexpectedly when I was two years old. What I didn’t mention was that I am not the only child he left behind. I have an older half brother and half sister. My sister has been a part of my life since I can remember – she has always been there for me and even though we only share one parent (dad), she is wholly my sister. My brother is a different story, I remember bits and pieces of him up until I was around 4 or 5 and then he just disappeared. I arranged to see him about 5 years ago and it was a brief dinner, uncomfortable and over quickly.

My brother was not in a good place when our father died. Wayne Jr. was his father’s namesake and was knowingly disappointing his dad prior to his death. Needless to say, the bad behavior only increased after our father passed. My brother was 19, an addict and directionless. He resented my mother for reasons I don’t fully comprehend and little Jenn was just another reminder that his father had moved on with life after his divorce to Wayne Jr’s mother.

Fast forward to last night. I received a call from my sister and she explained that our brother had run away to Belize and abandoned his wife. He was in a crazy drunken state, escaped from rehab and on a very destructive course. My sister called to tell me she was basically disowning him and couldn’t take his behavior any longer. Wayne Jr. is smart, wicked smart. He is a physician’s assistant, a medical school graduate but a residency drop out. However, in South America, he has enough schooling to be considered a full fledged doctor. So he escaped there to write his own prescriptions and pretend that he is the medical professional he wishes to be. He escaped there to be someone different than he is here.

My brother is one of only two links to my biological father. I have no other connections to this side of my family. I have longed for years to know more about my father’s family but sadly, no one related to my father (other than my siblings) is still alive. I have fantasized about sitting down with my brother and asking him to tell me stories about our father. I would give anything to have a meaningful conversation with the man who so resembles my father and had more many more years with him than I. Yet, that is truly a fantasy because Wayne Jr is a shell of man and his memories are probably very jaded by now.

This morning on my drive I realized Belize is the perfect place for Wayne, it is removed, it is different. It is the perfect place for him to hit bottom and find Jesus. I know that sounds cliche but let me explain. As many of my church going friends know, Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and was forever changed. Saul was busy persecuting and killing Christians, until he met Jesus. It was at that time that he became known as Paul and he eventually was the catalyst for the spread of Christianity. You can’t really meet Jesus and not be changed, Paul being the best example of this. I believe that God is still meeting people “on the road to Damascus” and he is still changing them entirely. He changed me and he can change my brother. No matter how hopeless Wayne Jr’s situation is, God is hopeful.

I decided that this year I will pray every day for my brother, for a missionary or believer in Belize to meet Wayne and offer him something no drug could ever promise: hope. I know there is someone in Belize that God will put in Wayne’s path – God never stops offering a chance, not until every opportunity has been exhausted. Maybe a missionary will stumble into the clinic where Wayne is working and he will see with new eyes.

Join me, will you, in praying for Wayne to find what his heart really needs. Pray for that person who will deliver the message of love and hope to him, that they will be blessed beyond measure. I want to celebrate on my 33rd birthday the gift of a brother reborn in this life.

Internet I have been busy! I know that you have too so we will make this quick…

First of all, Christmas was great. A while back I promised you a slide show of what I like to call the “Great Toddler Nativity Scene Re-enactment of 2008.” As I mentioned before, I had the pleasure of watching 30 toddlers act out the Nativity scene which was, by far, one of the highlights of the season.

Isaac took his role of king very seriously, focusing on the baby Jesus intently. So intently, that while the others faced the audience to sing their songs of adoration, my eldest son sang directly to the plastic baby in the wooden crib. He is very spiritual.

While the king was praising the plastic baby Jesus, Joshua the “angel” was busy wandering around the stage, rubbing his eyes and looking for Mommy.  

Below are a few pictures from the event, I hope you enjoy. Please ignore Isaac’s hair in the last picture – let’s just say the crown wreaked some havoc. Give a kid a break, okay?

On to Christmas. Well, we packed up our car with a ridiculous amount of presents and junk and headed to my mom’s house for 5 days. There really is nothing better than traveling with toddlers – toddlers who are aware their presents are behind them in the car(not the ones from Santa of course) and they can’t open them for 24 more hours. Oh the Joy! And did I mention that everyone (besides mom) developed a sinus infection on the 23rd? We ended up in the doctor’s office on Christmas Eve and were loaded up on antibiotics by noon that day.

Aside from the snot and the complaining (Kevin!) we managed to have a lovely Christmas Eve with my parents, Grandpa and almost all of my sisters. The kids got to play with their cousins a lot and it was great to see how Morgan, our token girl in the family, did with the big boys. Christmas Eve we got all of the little ones in the bathtub together, which was awesome, and by “awesome” I mean there were lots of pictures taken that will embarrass the crap out of the kids for years to come.

Overall, Christmas was great. I got a lovely pair of hand carved jade earrings, Kevin got a guitar, Isaac got a Leapfrog Leapster and Joshua also got a guitar (aka his “la la”). Since Christmas, we have only had to go to Target once to return the defective Leapster and there has been less than 10 meltdowns/tantrums over sharing new toys – we measure success in small steps. Below are some pictures of the Christmas festivities.

Tomorrow I turn 32 and well, yeah that sucks. My birthday kinda makes me sad so I have resolved to write a post tomorrow about what makes me happy: beauty products. Stay tuned for reviews and suggestions for favorite products.

I also mentioned in an earlier post that I started Weight Watchers and I will be offering a review of that on Tuesday, after I complete my first week. I will give you a hint though – I have already lost 1 pound!