I have one thing to say.

Revlon Mousse Foundation is GENIUS!!!

It seriously is the coolest thing. It claims to give that flawless airbrushed look so naturally I believed them. I’m such a sucker. But it’s true!!! It really does give a beautiful poreless finish.

It comes in this really cute can. Like a tiny spray paint can but when you press the button on the top it comes out like a mousse. It’s so airy. Be careful because it does come out fast. Just a tiny squirt is enough. You can build it up depending on how much coverage you want so you can always get more if you need it.

When you touch the light airy mousse it turns into a liquid on your fingers. I would say it has a medium to heavy coverage but still feels super light. It blends really easily and looks beautiful. I was glowing all day. I barely had any other makeup on today and I still felt pretty. I didn’t even need anything else.

There are not as many shades available in the Mousse as there are in the liquid formula. I usually get #5 in the liquid but it seemed that #4 Natural beige in the Mousse formula looked about the same so I got that one. Turned out to be perfect. I hope that helps you judge what shade to get for yourself because you can’t test them in the drugstore.That’s the only bad thing about drug store makeup but there really are gems just waiting for you to discover them!!!

Have fun. Look beautiful. Let us know if you try it.

XOXO

Guacamole is a great choice. Now I know what you might be saying… it’s still fattening blah blah blah. But look it’s a party. It’s healthy fat and it’s delicious!!!

Here’s my little spin on the standard guacamole you all may be used to. Let me know how you like it.

Combine 1 diced small Mango and the juice of one lime in a bowl.

  Add a chopped jalapeno pepper. You can use 1/2 of the pepper if you don’t like too much heat but I’m crazy like that so I use the whole thing. Also the seeds are where a lot of the heat are, so again if it’s too much remove the seeds too.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro.

Chop up 2 avocados and 1/2 a red onion.

Now mix it or mash it up until it has a consistency you like. I leave mine chunky. Taste it.

Yum Yum Gimme Some!

Get your favorite chips and enjoy.

Don’t forget to share.

XOXO

So… I had to force myself to be practical.

Which brings me back to the whole point of this post. I have been using Nail Tek for years. I was not naturally blessed with super strong nails. Mine were always peeling and breaking. I was never able to grow them at all. Hence my acrylic phase in high school. Which by the way; made my nails worse!

Nail Tek is the best ever nail hardener. Once I started using it in my 20′s I have never even thought about using any other brand. They have a bunch of different formulas. I use Number II for soft peeling nails. This just happens to work best for me. But choose yours based on your own individual nail problem.

The genius of this is it is not expensive at all. Its about 8 bucks a bottle! Where can you go wrong with that?

You apply it as your base coat. Two coats of your favorite color polish. Then another coat of Nail Tek.

Then every day you apply one coat of Nail Tek right over your polish! I do mine at night right before bed. I keep it on my nightstand so I don’t forget.

Now I know what you’re going to say…

That’s so much work, so much upkeep, blah blah blah….

Get over it!

It’s not. Who said being beautiful was easy? If it was easy, everyone would look like Giselle or Naomi.

This is not hard. I promise you it dries super quick. And reapplying a coat of Nail Tek over your colored polish every day lengthens the life of your manicure. It protects it from chipping so easily.

Now how’s that for smart?

All this and brains too. Who knew???

Now get out there and grow some pretty nails.

XOXO

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Being the glamour girl that I am it is hard for me to admit that at 36 years old I have the appetite of a 17 year old boy and a constant case of premenstrual chocolate cravings! But alas it is true! But what is a glamour girl to do?

Today I had to go grocery shopping (which I always seem to put off until there are only condiments in my fridge). I started my shopping trip with the best intentions. I loaded up my cart with all the fruit and veggies I needed to keep my girlish figure. I was determined to only make healthy choices.

I must have made a wrong turn somewhere because before I knew it I found myself in the bakery department! OMG! How did this happen? I came face to face with so many wonderful treats. Chocolate Babka, cream puffs, cannolis. They all looked so good! Then suddenly I found myself magnetically drawn to the most super rich fudgiest brownies I had ever seen! YUM! I had to have them. I didn’t even care. I picked them up. Then I put them down. I picked them up. Then I put them down again.

Oh no!!! The struggle! The struggle!

I have been trying really hard to work out lately. And I didn’t want to ruin it all because of stupid chocolate! I put them down. (Yes I had picked them back up) And I walked away.

“STEP AWAY FROM THE BROWNIES”

But that darn chocolate craving wouldn’t quit. I was about to turn around and go get them when I remembered a conversation I had with my gorgeous and super smart cousin Jackie. She was raving about a brownie recipe that was low fat, healthy and packed with protein. I called her immediately. “Jackie please help me!!! For the love of God!!!”

She told me to buy a box of dark chocolate brownie mix and a can of black beans.

BLACK BEANS????

Huh? I started to rethink the “super smart cousin” thing but she assured me they were delicious. They are not only nutritious and packed with protein they would totally get rid of that chocolate craving. Boy did I hope she was right. I did what she told me to do and she was right!! She really is super smart!!

PROTEIN PACKED BROWNIES

• Get 1 box of dark chocolate brownie mix and 1 can of black beans.
• Drain and rinse the beans thoroughly in a colander then return them to the empty can and refill with water.
• Pour the beans and water from the can into a blender and mix well.
• Add the black beans to the brownie mix and stir until it’s combined completely. Pour mixture into a greased pan. (I use Pam) and follow the cooking time and temperature instructions on the box

Just as Jackie promised. They turned out delicious. Seriously so good. They are only slightly different from the regular brownies we are all used to but I actually prefer these Protein Packed Brownies instead! They aren’t as sickeningly sweet and you don’t feel nauseous after. And at about 100 calories each they really do stop that chocolate craving! I really hope you enjoy these Protein Packed Brownies as much as I do. Thanks Jackie!

Much to my dismay. I calmly informed them that at Glamourella we only do Spray Tanning. Healthy Tans!  We DO NOT have tanning beds. Trying so hard to keep my cool, as I did get very worried about them. I politely asked,  why they would rather expose their gorgeous young skin to the dangers of tanning beds? And do you know what their answer was as they walked out?

They said “It’s January. We need our Vitamin D”

Well I thought I had never heard of such a thing until I remembered Pauly D from Jersey Shore saying something about Vitamin D and tanning salons on Chelsea Lately!

Thank Goodness for Chelsea Handler!!! She really gave it to him and urged Pauly D and all the girls watching to get healthy tans. She spoke of the virtues of spray tanning and I think was quite convincing. I wonder if she will want to be our spokesperson?

Watch the clip. Aside from being informative, Chelsea is of course very entertaining as usual.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And just so everyone is clear on this; Pauly D and the two ravishing young creatures are so wrong!!! Tanning beds DO NOT provide Vitamin D. Tanning beds DO NOT provide healthy tans.

They will however cause you to have an increased risk of skin cancer and to age very quickly.

Just try a spray tan one time. They really have improved a lot over the past few years. I promise you will be hooked!!

As much as I do not like to admit this. But I will do it for our loyal followers. If only to prove a point….

I will be turning 40 this year.  (There I said it-”Gulp”)

You would never guess it would you???

I have not laid out in the sun intentionally for years. When we go to the beach Lizzy and I sit under a huge umbrella and wear very glamorous hats and huge sunglasses. We take very good care of our skin. We have lots of tricks up our gorgeous sleeves.

Stay tuned…

XOXO

After you finish creating that gorgeous smoky eye and you are ready to apply your mascara…

Dip a clean mascara wand (I like to use a disposable one you can get at any beauty supply) into your loose powder. Really get it in there. Don’t be shy.

Tap off the excess on the side of the jar.

You want the brush to be as evenly coated in powder as possible. Then use the wand to gently brush the powder onto your lashes. It might look a little strange but don’t worry. Have I ever let you down??

Once you have brushed on the powder begin applying your favorite mascara. Cover the powder so that your lashes get really nice and black.

Then you are going to dip your wand into the loose powder again. Do the tappity tap and brush onto your lashes again!!!

More mascara!!! Get those lashes nice and black!!

You can repeat this as many times as you like until you are satisfied with the thickness and length. I usually do it at least THREE TIMES!! Sometimes even four!!!

You will see that the powder adds a little “bulk” to your natural lashes so you don’t need to spend as much time building up your mascara to create the same lushness.

And when you’re done…..  VOILA!!!

You will have beautiful thick gorgeous lashes!!!

Don’t be surprised when everyone starts asking you if your lashes are fake.

You can thank me later.

XOXO.

PS: Lizzy and I have been so busy creating our empire and planning new surprises for all of you!!! Stay tuned to see what Glamourella has in store for you. 2012 is going to be jam packed with all sorts of fun new beauty treatments. We can’t wait to share them you!!! Come visit us. We would love to have you. And remember…

Glamourella loves you!!!

(I loosely paraphrased this from Wikipedia. I suggest you look it up. Very interesting.)

People were developing their own mascara recipes all over the world. Including my grandmother!!

Now I would just like to point out that I DO NOT advocate trying this at home. It is dangerous and if you cry one single tear you will burn the crap out of your eyes!!! But in the 1930′s in Quito, Ecuador;  Maria Angelica de Endara was such a glamourpuss that she couldn’t live without long lucious lashes for one single minute.

See?? I keep telling everyone, it’s in my blood. I just can’t help it. I feel this only proves it.

I had to call my mother and ask her how Abuelita (Grandmother in Spanish) made it. She gave it to me as well as she could remember… Although she did make me swear I would not try to make it myself.

Abuelita would take a soap called “Jabon Rosado” (loosely translates into pink soap) and shred it. I guess maybe with a cheese grater??? I didn’t think to ask that part. Sorry.

Then she would take a candle and burn the bottom of a tea kettle until black soot formed. She would scrape all this black soot off then mix it with the soap until it turned into a nice creamy mixture. And then POOF!!! There was her mascara!!!

I remember she used to keep it in a Ponds Cold Cream jar.

My mother did say that it was the best mascara she had ever used. Everyone in school called her “spider lashes” because they were so long and thick. But don’t even think about crying!!!

All in the name of beauty, style and glamour……

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My Favorite Things by Lizzy London.

At the risk of sounding like Goldilocks…                    

                                               MY “NOT SO SECRET ANYMORE” MASCARA COMBINATION

One of my favorite beauty secrets is this homemade body scrub. I learned this years ago from one of my fabulous clients. She was a gorgeous girl and had a body TO-DIE-FOR! So naturally, always on a quest for unattainable perfection I simply had to ask her what she did to keep her body looking the way it did. Seriously, (I kid you not) she looked like someone drew her. Picture Jessica Rabbit.

Being an absolute doll on the inside too, she told me everything!  Apart from eating healthy and working out she said that she religiously makes this scrub at least once a week and absolutely swears by it.

Now if you do your research you will discover that the main active ingredient in most of those expensive cellulite creams is CAFFEINE!!! So what you do is this….

Mix some olive oil, approximately 3/4 cup or so with maybe 1/2 cup of coffee. I use Espresso as pictured above. I feel like maybe it’s stronger than regular coffee. Couldn’t hurt right??

Measurements don’t have to be exact. You like it extra “scrubby” put more coffee. Less “scrubby” less coffee. Same with the olive oil. A little more or a little less it doesn’t really matter as long as you have enough for your whole body.

Take it with you in a non-breakable bowl or container into the shower. Save it for the last part of your bathing beauty routine as you will not wash it off. Once you have taken care of your beautiful hair and washed that gorgeous body you will then take your homemade scrub and rub it all over. Get in there and give it a really good scrub. Aside from the coffee helping firm your body the scrubbing action will exfoliate and the olive oil will nourish your skin.

Once you have exfoliated your entire bod rinse off but DO NOT wash again with soap!! The olive oil will leave a silky residue and delicious scent. Your skin will glow and feel lusciously supple.

Let me know when you try it!!! I love hearing from you.

XOXO

As you can probably tell she is quite a character and sees the fun in almost everything. Don’t worry! This is not the last you will see of her. Aside from us being very busy getting into tons of mischief together, she has a slight problem. She came to me with a “hair follicle debacle”. She has never been able to leave her hair alone. From bleaching to Brazilian straightening to constant flat ironing to even experimenting with texture fusion, this has left our Lizzy’s hair in a complete frizzy tizzy!

And so I enrolled her in my “Bad Hair Bootcamp”!

Lizzy has agreed(much to her dismay) to follow all directions and be my guinea pig in order to nurse her hair back to health. If I can get these distressed tresses healthy again I’m sure my “Bad Hair Bootcamp” can help all of you too. Let’s begin…

We took a little field trip to our local beauty supply store for ideas. So many things to choose from. What’s a girl to do?                                             

After much debating, we settled on Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment.

The directions may seem complicated but don’t worry it’s totally do-able. And totally worth it.

On the way home Lizzy needed to stop for some “liquid courage” at our local watering hole and naturally I couldn’t let her drink alone…..

Hours later………

We began………………………..

Boy, was she a mess!

1) Shampoo hair but don’t apply conditioner. towel dry and comb out knots as best you can with a wide tooth comb.

2)Now apply the Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment generously all over your hair. It smells horrible and the product is drippy so don’t be alarmed.

3)If your hair is long pile it loosely on top of your head. now you are ready to apply heat. Use a hood dryer if you have access to one, otherwise a regular hair dryer will do just fine.

Caution: DO NOT! UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES MOVE YOUR HAIR AROUND ONCE THE PRODUCT IS DRIED INTO YOUR HAIR. WHEN IT DRIES IT WILL TURN ROCK HARD AND IF YOU TRY TO MOVE YOUR HAIR AROUND IT WILL SNAP OFF!!!!!

4) Once the protein treatment is totally dry, get back into the shower and very carefully let the warm water wash over your hair without touching it at all for about five minutes. The water will gently dissolve the protein and rinse it from your hair. Once it is all rinsed out, apply your favorite conditioner and leave it in for a minute or so.  At this point, your hair will already feel like silk in the shower.  If you need to, now would be the time to comb out knots with a wide tooth comb.

5) Style as usual!  You will love the texture of your silky smooth tresses.

After completing the Aphogee Two Step Protein Treatment, Lizzy no longer feels like there is wet cotton candy on the top of her head.  It is soft as silk!  She remarked her hair looks and feels 90% better.

               Stay tuned for Episode 2 of Lizzy’s Bad Hair Bootcamp!

What do you use to repair over processed hair? Share your secrets with me. I would love to hear them!  XOXO