Looking for a great new body wash? Lather up with The Budget Beauty Babe's latest find. —BB



by The Budget Beauty Babe
I am a big fan of hydrating body washes, especially in the dry winter months (brr!). Olay has just come out with a new line of Body washes called Botanical Fusion, including a hydrating wash with patchouli and soy oil - and I love this product! It creates a soft rich lather, has a beautiful scent that lingers without being obnoxious or overpowering, and leaves skin feeling clean and hydrated (no tight dry skin over here!).

Plus, ingredients like Soy Oil and Shea Butter make it A-Okay in my book. Oh, and I love the look of the bottle - great shape, great color scheme and an overall impression of cleanliness and tranquility. For about $4, it's a great budget buy (I bought mine on sale, 3 for $10 at Walgreens!) I think it's a new staple in my bathroom, and I'm sure it'll also be great in summer when thick moisturizers are just too much.

>> Find out where to buy Olay Body Botanical Fusion Body Wash in Hydrate here.

Related post:

• Beauty Review: E.l.f. Bath & Body

Makeup that blends rich color with a touch of gold is enough to make any girl blush. The Budget Beauty Babe reviews Revlon's Limited Edition cosmetic treat for your cheeks. —BB



by The Budget Beauty Babe
I'm a big fan of blush. Even if you don't wear any other makeup, a swipe of good blush can bring life and vibrancy to your complexion and face. While meandering through the cosmetics isle (which you will find me doing often) I found a collection of lovely blushes by Revlon that not only offer lush berry shades, but also give you a hint of gold glimmer: Revlon Golden Affair Limited Edition Sculpting Blush.

I scooped up a nice rich shade called Berry Daring, and fell in love. I love makeup that is saturated with enough color that a little goes a long way, and that happens here. The lightest swipe across this beautiful compact provides you with enough color to give subtle warmth to your face. And I just love the little gold insets in the blush. Adding subtle gold shimmer gives dimension and depth to that area of the face, without being loud or tacky.

Revlon Golden Affair Limited Edition Sculpting Blush in Berry Daring is a definite pick-up in my book. You won't be disappointed!

>> Revlon Golden Affair Limited Edition Sculpting Blush retails for $12.99 at Walgreens.com. Find out where all Revlon products are sold here.

The Budget Beauty Babe reveals all about a fabulous, affordable concealer. —BB



by The Budget Beauty Babe
If there is one thing we can do for ourselves on a daily basis that will produce fantastic beauty results, its sleep enough hours during the night. Yet in today's fast paced world, hardly anyone gets the recommended 8 hours a night. With that in mind I decided to find and review a fantastic under eye concealer/corrector on a budget.

We all know that there are some extremely pricey remedies for under-eye issues out there, some upwards of $250.00 per teeny weenie little jar! And while I know first hand the importance of giving the impression of a well-rested face, I also know that stress causes wrinkles—and forking over that much mullah will cause mucho wrinkles.

Fortunately, I believe Physicians Formula CoverToxTen50 Wrinkle Therapy Concealer is the solution to that problem. This fantastic product not only acts as a concealer for under eye circles and darkness, but also as a treatment for them as well as wrinkles. The package claims that in ten minutes there is 50% wrinkles reduction, in ten hours there is up to 52% visible dark circle reduction, and within ten days there is 77% visible dark circle reduction. Wow! I was skeptical because at around $8.95, this product is way below competitor prices, and yet it delivered!

I must say that after using this product for two weeks I am a fan. Just as a concealer alone it works fabulously. I use the soft yellow, and this shade really is perfect for countering the look of dark bluish under eye problems. Add the bonus of visible dark circle reduction and wrinkle reduction and you have me hooked! I'm a fan, and at $8.95, my wallet is too!

>> Physicians Formula CoverToxTen50 Wrinkle Therapy Concealer retails for $8.95. Find out where to buy it here.

The Budget Babe's resident beauty expert reminds us that not all so-called "mineral makeup" is created equal. —BB



by The Budget Beauty Babe
Every cosmetic company seems to be jumping on the mineral makeup bandwagon, and so continuing our reviews of budget-friendly mineral makeup, we put Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Powder Foundation and Maybelline Mineral Power Naturally Luminous Blush to the test.

Attractively packaged and competitively priced, these products are sure to please many, but lets get some things straight first: If you're looking for pure mineral makeup, this is not it. Although called Mineral Power, this line of cosmetics is not truly mineral makeup (with our definition of mineral makeup being makeup that only contains minerals in its ingredient list).

And they're really sneaky about it, too. If you look at the package for the foundation you'll find it says, "The secret of micro-minerals - 100% natural earth minerals, etc." The secret of micro-minerals is minerals? Duh.

The packaging also says, "Pure ingredients." Now look at the ingredient list: Nowhere on there does it say 100% pure minerals. Like I said, very sneaky packaging.

There are, in fact, a lot of other non-mineral ingredients, including synthetic wax and PTFE, which is a synthetic coating used most commonly on pots and pans to create a non-stick coating also known as Teflon. I don't know about you, but if I think I'm getting pure minerals I don't want to end up with Teflon particles on my face (unless I decide to cook an egg on my cheek and don't want it to stick).

On the plus side, as far as makeup goes, it did its job. The foundation covered fairly well although concealer would still be needed (which is also available in this line). The color was nice and blended nicely, however I did find that this makeup seemed to get shiny after just a few hours of wear (and I have normal to dry skin in winter). Personally, I feel this makeup may have caused my skin to break out and become very irritated and red. I stopped using it and the problems went away.

The blush is nice, although the color is created using dyes and not minerals, which may be why the resulting effect looks a bit fake. Also, its not very pigment-rich and I felt as though it took a lot to do the job.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend Maybelline Mineral Power products. I can't help but feel it's just a clever marketing ploy and not really mineral makeup, not to mention I don't feel its that great of a deal either. In order to finish your look, foundation, concealer, blush and translucent powder would all be needed and together could run you upwards of $40.00.

To sum up: Not all that great for "mineral" makeup that's not, well, really mineral makeup.

Find Maybelline Mineral Power Foundation ($8.98) and Blush ($7.99) at Walgreens stores nationwide.

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• Beauty Review: bareMinerals Starter Kit

Makeup that magically transforms to match your skintone? Impossible! Or is it...? The Budget Babe's resident beauty expert investigates. —BB



by The Budget Beauty Babe
Lately, Almay has been broadcasting these really tempting commercials on TV. Their fabulous model squirts out a little bit of white makeup onto her finger, and it magically transforms into her perfect shade on her face. The commercial then goes on to tell you about new Smart Shade technology, where microscopic color beads activate upon applying them and change into your exact shade of makeup. Needless to say, I was very incredulous, and yet their commercial worked because off I went to Ulta to give it a whirl.

It was easy enough to pick the shade I needed from their three options (light, medium and dark), and before even making it home I ripped open the package in the car and squirted some out on my fingers just like the spokesmodel. Gently rubbing it into my hand, I was really surprised: The makeup actually did change from white to my skin color! Then for the sake of my experiment, I grabbed my boyfriend's hand and proceeded to rub some on him, and amazingly it did the same thing (and his skin is at least five shades darker than mine!)

Upon very close inspection of the "white" makeup that comes out of the tube, you'll see little flecks of color, which leads me to believe that this is in fact "liquid mineral makeup" - where in the minerals are suspended in a makeup base and then blended into the face and like other loose minerals reflect light in such a way that perfect matching occurs. Pretty clever.

I think this is a nice product, however, I must say that it covers more like a tinted moisturizer and really doesn't have the covering power of foundation. I really like it as a base to loose mineral makeup, as it provides SPF protection and a nice evening of the skin tone. Those with more to hide need not apply - the makeup is too thin to cover redness, blueness, or spots.

Overall I like this product. Almay Smart Shade Makeup is clever, quasi-magical and delivers light, even coverage (great as a base, perfect replacement for non-tinted moisturizer) with SPF protection.

>> Almay Smart Shade makeup is available at Drugstore.com for $12.14.