Beauty Tips, Tricks & Products: A Girl Can't Have too Many

I know there's a lot of wisdom out there reading this blog. I'm referring here, not to my guy readers (we'll get to you later), but to you!

Yes, YOU, silent girl.

I know you're sitting out there right now with an AMAZING moisturizer in your medicine cabinet or that incredible don't-leave-the-house-without-it lip gloss tucked in your purse, or that special pair of jeans hiding in your closet that makes your ass look at least two times smaller and three times shapelier when you pull them on.

Ever since I observed Christa passing quickly passing her eye-liner pencil through the flame of her Bic lighter before applying it (softening makes it go on easier) or my friend, Jeanna, blow-drying her hair with her head hanging between her knees (more volume!), I've learned the best beauty secrets are usually no more than a girlfriend away. And I'm not too shy to share my secrets--lest we forget my enthusiastic endorsement of the Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Push-Up Bra, the product that transformed my very own personal boobs into "two scoops of danger", as I recall.

So I'm asking ya'll to share your secrets with me. Anonymously or otherwise, e-mail me (you can find my address under my profile) and tell me your favorite product (and why) or your best trick, tip, or technique and I'll share it here. Not sure yet if this will be a regular post or a sidebar feature. And I've already got the first installment for you.

Our first tip comes from Jill, a prodigious student of beauty with a trunk full of products to prove it. She tells me, though, that there is but one product these days that she finds absolutely essential: a good primer.

And girls, I'm told if you're over 40 or just have skin that isn't the smoothest in the world, a primer may well rock your world.

If you're not savvy (Jack Sparrow), primer is usually a silicone based product that you smooth on on after your moisturizer and before your foundation. It will minimize pores, lines, and unevenness sinking into the crevasses to give you a smooth even surface onto which your foundation will glide like glass.

What primer should you use? Well, there again, Jill has done the work for you. She tells me that both Clinique and Philosophy offer perfectly acceptable primers, but the best primer in the business is Smashbox's Photo Finish Foundation Primer, a product that, as you can see, just happens to be an Allure Editor's Choice, and will even offer you additional, at SPF 15, sunscreen protection.

If you're in Paducah, you'll have to figure in shipping costs, because we've yet to be fortunate enough to rate a Smashbox products distributor at the local mall. Figure $17 for the travel size and $42 for regular plus shipping.

Broke? Search E-Bay for it. Lots of your favorite beauty products to be had for cheap if you're adventurous (watch the expiration dates though). Often one can find sample sized versions of favorite products (and perfumes) for a few dollars and regular sized versions if you're lucky (and, like I said, brave).