PlantLove Botanical Lipsticks by Cargo are a new collection of super-cool, eco-friendly lipsticks: They're free from petroleum-based ingredients, they come in tubes made entirely from corn, and you can grow beautiful wildflowers by planting the packaging that they're wrapped in! How can you not love a lipstick that does all that?


Click the pic for more details on PlantLove lipsticks >>

What's more, five celebs gave the green thumbs-up and collaborated with Cargo to create their own shade: Evangeline Lily, Lindsay Lohan, Maria Menounos, Mariska Hargitay, and Sarah Chalke.

Find a shade that's right for you, and pucker up for the planet!

Available for $20 each at Sephora.com or Amazon.com. Yeah, it's a little steep for a lipstick, however, they're easy on the environment and Cargo is donating two dollars from the sale of every shade to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Read the Budget Babe's earlier post on Daisy by Marc Jacobs. >>

Join esteelauder.com for your chance to win an Estée Lauder shopping spree worth $350. Click here to enter. >>

Why Budget is Best
by The Budget Babe's Beauty Expert
For the past five years, I have been using the cheapest haircolor available: Revlon Colorsilk. It's just $3.99 a box and it's always given me great results.

Left: What the box promises. Right: Actual results. Revlon Colorsilk delivers!

I like the color, and people often ask if I get my hair colored professionally. Normally, I just scoffed at them—making your hair blonde (in my case blond-er) is the easiest thing ever! All blonde dyes are basically the same: peroxide—right?

Wrong! Just this past month I decided to do a little test. Is the more expensive blonde dye better? Will my hair be more “multi-faceted,” “healthier,” and will my “color last longer?” (although please note, blonde doesn’t really go anywhere really, since its more like a lack of color…).

So, I picked up what seemed to be a really enticing box of Garnier Fructis 100% color (ooooh special) in extra light ash blonde. After doing what I’ve done for the past 5 years without fault (dye my own hair), I removed the towel from my head to reveal beautiful, multi-faceted, healthy, long lasting gray hair.


Left: What the box promises. Right: Actual results. What gives, Garnier?!?

Yes, gray. Any normal person would be horrified and never touch the stuff again, but I, for the sake of a truly scientific conclusion, undid the gray and tried it again. Needless to say I now understand why they suggest those with gray hair not use their product. So, in the world of do-it-yourself dyes, I know one thing is true: Price does not always ensure quality (unless you want gray hair, which, I must admit has grown on me).

When its time to dye again, I will return to my super-cheapness, which just so happened to also be the best overall option. Once again proving that the more expensive option is not always the best option.

Have any of you ladies ever been shocked by the cheapest product on the market (in a good way) or shocked by the high(er) ticket item (in a bad way)? Now’s the time to spread the word!

by The Budget Babe's Beauty Expert
Thank you E.l.f. (Eyes Lips Face) for creating a shining star in the budget cosmetic world! After weeks (seriously) of testing, I am happy to report that the recently launched line of E.l.f. nailpolish is fantastic!!!

For the sake of a good and thorough review, I ordered one of every color they offer (Decadent? No! they’re a buck a bottle. I’ve spent more on one Starbucks. I literally was sent a grocery bag full of polish bottles. Yay!)

At first glance one can note the cute packaging the bottles come in, for a dollar they’re not even loose bottles, but rather are protected in their own box (each bottle also has this fun little plastic polish drip hanging off the side to show the shade, how original!). On said box is a list of all the magical things this dollar polish claims to do for you (ha!… right?): Chip resistant shield, infused with vitamin E, toluene free, formaldehyde free, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) free, with revolutionary bristle design on brush, quick dry formula for no messes, and key nutrients for healthy long lasting shine, AND its hypoallergenic! Say what?! None of my other polishes claim all these things, and are way more expensive.

Ok, so it talks the talk, but does this polish walk the walk? I am so excited to say that it does! I can honestly say that after playing with these polishes for the last two weeks I love them! The colors are fun and flirty, and are remarkably accurately depicted on the website and the bottle (aka- the color on the nail looks like the color it should be). They go on smooth and easy, dry ultra fast, remain shiny, and don’t chip (I even filed my nails while wearing Coral, and the polish didn’t chip or fray along the edge). After a week and a half I changed the color, just because I wanted a new color, I could have kept going indefinitely the color was holding up so well.

All and all, I have to say it’s a big green light with this polish. Works fabulously, looks great, and I seriously think it works better then some of its more expensive counterparts. For a buck it’s a steal, and a serious Budget Beauty Babe must! For fall I fell in love with Dark Red (shown above), a really nice rich wine color—try it, you’ll love it!

All E.l.f. nail polish is just $1 at www.eyeslipsface.com.