Back to School Beauty - Scenting Up Small Spaces.

We all know Dorm Rooms are small. So aren't closets, laundry baskets, cars, office cubicles - lot's of small places. And many times small places stink of - well, I don't even want to think of what makes small spaces smell. When a plug is not available and candles are not an option, you need something portable.  Scent up your small space with Scentportable.

Readily available at Bath & Body Works stores (and online, of course) Slatkin & Co. has created this handy dandy clip and go portable fragrance disc. No plug, batteries or dangerous flames, these scented discs surround small spaces in refreshing, beautiful scents.

Select from Pineapple Mango, Vanilla Coconut or Fresh Linen. And for just $5, every small space can be scented - and stay that way for about 6 weeks.

Back to School Beauty - Makeup Palettes.

Three weeks from today my kiddos go back to school. It is both an exciting and un-nerving time for all of us. New schools, new teachers, new routines. Saying good-bye to Summer, our favorite time of year. Getting back into homework habits. Getting the kids out of the house for six hours a day. They all have their pros and cons.

The hardest thing I discover about getting back to the going back to school routine is the mornings. No matter how early we get up or how prepared I think I am, we are always rushing and pressed for time.

One of the easiest ways to shave off some time in the morning routine is by lightening up your makeup routine. One of the smartest things to invest in is a makeup palette with products for eyes, cheeks, and lips in one place.  Using a palette or kit will not only simplify your makeup application, it will cut down on the time you spend fishing through your makeup bag to find the perfect products to go with your daily look. 

There are a lot of great palettes out there, but my heart belongs to just a few. While I am just recommending those here, you would be smart to look for your own favorite to help get your look and day off to a great start.

Too Faced The Bronzed & The Beautiful Bronzing Powder palette contains the perfect selection of bronzers to take your look from Summer to Fall with ease. These bronzers and highlighters are not only for your face, they can pull double duty on your eyelids. sephora.com

Pop Beauty Backstage Buzz - No. 1 Natural Soot is available in two color combos: Midnight Soot and Natural Soot. Natural Soot contains a Duo Bronzer and Duo Cheek & Highlighter in Dusty Rose, Nude Glow, Cream Glow & Bronze Glow, three Eye Shades in Jet Black, Platinum Silver, and Nude Cream, and two Lip Glosses in Peachy Nude and Pinky Nude. sephora.com

Stilas Backstage Beauty Eye Shadow Palette - The Front Row Look has the most beautiful case, doesn't it? I am so loving that flower on the outside, which is detachable to become it's own accessory. Inside is not so bad either with three beautiful shades to create a soft smoky eye look, complete with Stilas famed Kajal eyeliner, this one in  Smokey Quartz. stilacosmetics.com

NARS Artist Palette 9941 has the perfect mix of shades for not only a quick and simple look, but a beautiful one at that. This beauty contains four shades of eye shadows, two shades of The Multiple, and four different lipsticks. The eye shadows include India Song, Night Star, Night Clubbing and Ondine. The Multiple shades are Copacabana, the perfect highlighter, and Malibu, the perfect nude pink brown, which anyone can wear. Finally, the lipstick shades in the palette are Honolulu Honey, the popular Dolce Vita, Gipsy and Trans Siberian, one of my new faves. narscosmetics.com

Laura Geller Face Folio contains not one, but two palettes with everything you need for a multitude of looks. The eye palette is filled with pressed powder, duo cream concealer, and six eyeshadows.  The Lip and Cheek palette is filled with a bronzer, blush duo, and six creamy lip colors. The folio also contains lush black mascara and a dual lip and eye pencil. You see? This kit is complete. sephora.com

Sephora Classic Blockbuster Palette is the ultimate triple tiered palette containing your beauty needs for lips, cheeks and eyes. This must-have palette is loaded with 64 eyeshadows, 32 lip colors, seven cheek colors, one translucent shimmer powder, four double-ended shadow applicators, two blush brushes, and two lip brushes. sephora.com

Back to School Beauty: Backpack Essentials.

I would like to think that I know what every back to school beauty wants in her backpack, but after a week of school, I know for sure what my daughter and some friends need in their's. With the help of a few 12 - 17 year old girls, my sons girl friends loved spilling their backpacks to let me see their beauty loot, we have come up with our Backpack Essentials.

The number one and two must-have items are a hair brush and hair spray. Seems no one can get through the day without taming their luscious locks. One girl even carries a flat iron in her backpack, but swears it is only for afterschool touch-ups.

 

The girls love the new Herbal Essences Set Me Up Max Hold Hairspray, and at around $4, it is very afforable to keep in extra can at school.
 

Next up on the list is a fragrance spray. Our favorites are the new Hard Candy Fragrance and SO...? Kiss Me.

Lip gloss and Lip Balm are must-have backpack items too. While my daughter is a MAC girl (yup, she get all the shades I cannot wear), the others are in love with Burt's Bees  - both the lip balms and tinted lip shimmers.

Mascara, Maybelline's Great Lash to be exact, was in five out of the 8 backpacks I got to see, and most of them had a bronzer (or two) in there floating around too. Our favorites are various bronzers from Physicians Formula inlcuding their new Bright Bronzing Powder, and another from Hard Candy.  I found it a little funny that these New England girls love their SoCal Glow Bronzer.

I was surprised that only one gal, the one who toted that flat iron around, had an entire cosmetic case full of makeup in her backpack.  I was never one to carry much makeup around, so it sort of shocked me that a young girl would need so much to get her through a six hour school day.