At the risk of boring you with my intricate and multifaceted philosophies on where to spend and save in your beauty product budget (which, if I'm being honest, would likely involve charts, graphs, or at the very least, a Venn diagram or two), I will simply say this: I feel that mascara is one of the products where you can really save your money. The drugstore offers formulas that, in many instances, are of comparable quality to department store versions. And so it was that a few weeks ago, I found myself in the market for a new mascara, and the drugstore was my destination.

So here is what I look like when I wake up in the morning:Except not really because this photo was taken at 6 PM and I had just returned from a really long trip and I'm sure you can sense my exhaustion. Anyway, me without makeup. You are so welcome, Internet.

Three years ago, I saw a story on the news while I was at the gym. An investigative feature on the breast cancer awareness contributions that various corporations pledged during Breast Cancer Awareness Month found that most of these promotions led to increased sales and windfall profits that dwarfed the piddling donations that the extra sales generated. Until that moment, I was gung-ho about buying products marked with pink ribbons.

Last week, I headed into the MAC store in my hood to grab perhaps my tenth refill of powder blush in Prism. And I realized, man, I've been wearing that stuff for years. I think I discovered it back in the mid-nineties when MAC was a teeny little West Village shop for those in the know and the drag queens who loved them. And, somehow, me.

Sometimes, I come across a product that is so amazing, so innovative, so incredible that I SIMPLY MUST share it. And indeed, if you've had the misfortune to run into me at any point during the past few weeks, then you know all about it already, because I have likely accosted you, creepy infomercial lady-like, to rave about this item. Possibly while waving it all up in your face. Again, I'm . . . sorry about that. But not sorry enough to stop talking about it.

IT is a truth universally acknowledged that whenever you find the perfect shade of lipstick, the company discontinues it. Unfortunately, this is also true of foundation, blush, mascara, eye shadows, skin care, fragrances, and hair products. Here are ten things you can do to heal your broken heart:

I've just read Rita Wilson's column in October's Harper's Bazaar where she wondered, "when do we as women grow out of things or into things?"This column runs in a fashion magazine so she was talking about fashion and beauty "things" -- this question could lead to deeper ruminations, of course, but there's no crime in occasional frivolity -- so I've been inspired to follow her lead and take stock of how I've changed through the years.

When Sheba at Sparrow Salon in Chicago cut my hair this summer, she talked about how much she loved Jean Seberg's short pixie cut. I filed that away in my brain, because I tend to think about my hair in more of a Mia Farrow/Michelle Williams kind of context. But then Seberg showed up in a recent issue of Lucky magazine, sporting the short hair and some funky reading glasses, and I though, there's a look I can get behind.

The cat eye is back in a big way this fall and I couldn't be happier about it! It's a fun and sophisticated look that is easy to master. No, really - if I can do it, you can too! Invest a bit of time experimenting with it, and you'll be ready with a makeup technique that you can make as dramatic or as subtle as you wish. Don't believe me? Read on!

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Stila. As a little girl, whose makeup did you most admire? For me, it was the 80s, and I loved my mom's blue eyeshadow. But it was always Barbie with that perfect swipe of purple (or blue, or green) on her eyelid that fascinated me. The color and application was so perfect, so pure. And now Stila is offering that same look to all of us.

To me, one of the nicest things about the end of summer is that all those nasty French pedicures will be back hidden inside a pair of closed-toe shoes where they belong. I hate them. Haaaate them. When I think Klassy with a kapital k I think French pedicures. Which, by the way, are as French as the Croissan'wich.

Look, I admit it, I'm fickle. The things I like are constantly changing, and while I do have a few constant beauty must-haves---I have yet to go a couple of weeks without buying Cover Girl's Lipslick in Daring, for example---I have no problem with switching pretty much everything else out whenever I feel like it. Variety is the spice of life, after all!  So here are four new products---well, new to me---that are currently rocking my world. 1. Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Body Wash, $3.99 at Trader Joe's