Here we go...


My love for makeup, like most makeup junkies, goes all the way back to my childhood. When I was about 4-years old, Santa brought me a vanity for Christmas, and I’d sit in front of it for hours applying Tinkerbell makeup. I can still remember the way Tinkerbell lipstick tasted.

Unlike most makeup junkies, I was lucky enough to land a job creating cosmetics. I worked as the Product Development Manager for a Redmond, Washington based company called Garden Botanika. I was first employee hired for the field and within just a few years, I was working in the coveted spot of product development manager for skin care and cosmetics only because the woman in the position decided that she needed to stay home with her kids. It didn’t hurt that the president and vice president of the company really liked me (talk about being in the right place at the right time). I was young, perky, hip, in my late twenties and had the best job in the world. When the company filed for reorganization, I had to move on since I was the bread winner in the family. It killed me, but I landed a great job with a medical skin care company where I learned a great deal.

Unlike the majority of my fellow product development mavens, I am not a makeup snob. I am perfectly happy with my $8 mascara, my $.99 nail polish and my Cotton Candy Lipsmacker. Why? Because they work for me. I know how much it costs to make this stuff, so it’s hard for me to justify spending a small fortune on anything if I know that a less expensive, comparable version exists. See, the thing is, no matter what anyone tells you, you can put together a skin care or cosmetic regime with products from Target and Nordstrom as long as the combination works for you. As sales people, we’re taught to tell the customer that products are designed to work synergistically with each other (and for some lines that’s true), but when it comes to your skin, it’s okay to mix and match products from other lines to find what works for YOU.

My family and friends have asked my advice about skin care and cosmetics for years and it wasn't until recently that it occurred it me that I should start blogging. So here we go! My blog will be a goodie bag of topics from product reviews to a discussion of skin issues. Feel free to comment and ask questions. There’s a ton of information about products, ingredients, formulation and the skin in my brain and the thing I love most is to share it.