Hair styling is crucial to getting hair that looks like it has volume and height, but a girl can only tease her hair so much achieve the look.  That, coupled with lots of hairspray usually helps my mane from looking like a limp biscuit.

But because I’m a complete dunce when it comes to styling, I’m constantly looking for shampoo and conditioner formulas that will carry most of the weight to give me fuller-looking hair so I don’t have to rely on styling.

Over the past year, I’ve rarely deviated from my current go-to, Aussie Opposites Attract.  But suddenly, I’ve found a collection that is quickly setting a new standard for me.

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Remember back when you were a teen experimenting with makeup and your mom thought you were too young for eyeliner and lipstick?

As a result, you moseyed on down to the nearby drugstore with your friends to get the darkest lipstick you could find, and discreetly hid it in your book bag so she wouldn’t find it.  Okay so that was me but don’t forget, it was the early 1990s when I started dabbling with makeup. 

All you moms out there, if you have teen girls just starting out with makeup, I highly suggest that you shop with your girls to help pick out her first starter glosses that won’t make her look 10 years older than she is.

And CoverGirl’s new ShineBlast Lip Gloss might be the way to go.

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This post is a few weeks too late but I just had to share with you the dishes I made for one of my best friend’s 30th birthday party over Halloween weekend.

She swore that it would be a drunken fest and wanted simple finger foods beyond chips and dip.  Here’s what I came up with:

We had these adorable and delicious mini baked potatoes at a cocktail party we attended a couple of months ago and after popping a couple, we just knew that these had to be on the menu for her party.

We got White Rose Potatoes and baked them before cutting a slit in them to stuff with blue cheese.  I topped these with homemade bacon bits and set the bite-sized potatoes on a serving platter.  I was poppin’ these in  my mouth like candy all night!

Mini Roast Beef Sandwiches are usually a crowd favorite and they’re so easy to make.  I just slice sourdough baguettes and drizzle with a little olive oil and salt before lightly toasting them to make crostinis.

Smear a little homemade horseradish mayo on each (mayo, prepared horseradish, lemon juice, salt pepper) and top with lettuce before placing sliced roast beef on top.  Garnish with a little bit of seasoned and diced vine-ripe tomatoes and a final pinch of freshly ground black pepper.

For a heartier sandwich (perfect for later in the evening when you’re really trying to soak up what you’ve drank), we made Italian Sandwiches.

I cut a few large loaves of ciabatta bread in half and toasted them off before assemling the sandwich.   Once these come out of the oven, spread pesto on both sides of the ciabatta and start piling on slices of salami, bologna, turkey and provolone cheese.

Cut each loaf into mini sandwiches and you’ll have a party platter in no time.  I love these because they’re really easy to make and everything can be store-bought!

The crowd favorite of the dishes I made was, hands down, Mini Pizzas with Carmelized Onions, Proscuitto and Goat Cheese.  I used this recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis as a guide but instead of baking off pizza dough, I bought a couple of boxes of water crackers from the grocery store.

This saved me time from slaving over the oven and no one even noticed

More notable treats from the party that I didn’t personally make – three kinds of jello shots, delicious!

By request, my friend’s boyfriend make dark chocolate covered strawberries  for her – because you should always get what you want on your birthday, right?

And chocolate cupcakes that said spelled out Happy Birthday to the guests of honor.  If there’s one thing I want to learn how to do, it’s decorate cupcakes.  They looked so professional, I couldn’t believe they were homemade!

What are some of your favorite easy, but delicious party food to make?  Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I’d love to hear what your staples are!

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Can you believe that the holidays are just around the corner again?  This year has been a whirlwind with my relocation to Orange County, travelling back to San Francisco every few weeks, and preparing for my vacation that I just got back from.

But now that our cruise has ended and the weekend travelling is winding down due to expensive flights during the holidays, I can now devote some time to highlight this season’s holiday collections from all of your favorite brands in a Splurge or Skip series!

Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing our absolute favorites as well as our picks for what you can skip this season.  Hopefully this will help you pare down your list so that you don’t have to check it twice before you splurge

First up on our holiday Splurge or Skip series, Dior Cristal Boréal Holiday 2009 Collection.

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