the price of beauty [seriously. it's expensive.]

please visit ben and tay over at the undomestic momma and offer your love and prayers - truly heartbreaking.

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so in honor of my beloved jessica simpson...

and her new tv show, the price of beauty, i've decided to ask myself (and you guys, bahaha, my captive audience) exactly what is inappropriate to risk for beauty (even if it's only your budget)?

xtreme lashes eyelash enhancers - incredible, hand applied by 'licensed' stylist individual lashes that give people crazy beautiful, natural looking lashes (by natural i mean that girl in class who you'd stare at sideways, jealously admiring the thick dark lashes that nearly swept her eyebrows). 

downside: EXPENSIVE and fairly high maintenance (about $200 for the first application, monthly upkeep between $50 and $100/mo.)

latisse - prescription eyelash formula, proven to make eyelashes grow naturally thicker, longer and darker with repeated use.  brooke shields is spokeswoman (if you've seen her ads in magazines)

downside: may [albeit rarely] have side effects like darkening of the lid (not permanent, said to go away if you stop use) or actual iris (evidently permanent)

rodial glamotox - according to the description:

Active daily moisturizer with muscle relaxing peptides with pomegranate ellagic tannin cell protection.

Glamotox™ combines daily hydration with wrinkle plumping agents and vitamins and it is a non-invasive alternative to surgery.

Micro-injected spheres fill the wrinkles, peptides relax expression lines, myrrh extract plumps up fat cells and vitamin C reduces age spots and hyperpigmentation.

according to Whitney Port and Lauren Conrad's makeup artist, Amy Nadine (click to check out her AMAZING, tip-filled blog...can't remember whose blog told me about it but it's AMAZINGly helpful), glamotox is "a cult favorite moisturizer that super hydrates and plumps up the skin, diminishing any fine lines." ...to have skin like Whitney and Lauren's? may be worth it...

 downside: $125 and may not actually work at all. 

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i've also been thinking of investing in a sweet digital SLR camera for my return to san diego - talk about the ultimate way to improve your looks, buy a freaking better camera!!  ...any suggestions? currently looking at

the canon eos rebel XSi - my little sister, an uber talented photographer, is trying to sell me on this one...it's crazy expensive but seems like an investment, you know?  and i may need to try and get her eye, too, before i make any major camera purchases - can you believe she's only 18?  she just got into VCU's art program - #1 art program in the country!

 

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you know what? maybe the best things in life are free.

like blog giveaways:

iva messy's my little eyes blossom ring giveaway

 kitchen belleicious's red letter word giveaway

 fashion meets food's easter goodies giveaway

bonbon rose's shabby apple giveaway

good luck cuppy cakes!! only a little more time left in japan, and then we're off to sweet, sweet san diego! but first a pit stop in...guess where: