If you haven’t checked out The Beauty Ideal yet this month, what are you waiting for?

Jamie from The Beauty of Life edited this month’s magazine and I’m excited to say that she asked me to contribute to June’s Destination Beauty issue! Along with a handful of talented bloggers, we’re covering off on all you need to look and feel beautiful this summer - whether you’re cooling off poolside or sitting in your air-conditioned office.

Prep yourself for a beautiful summer and catch up on these awesome reads: Summer Vacation Hair, Vacationing at the Office, Airplane-Approved Beauty, and tons more!

June’s Beauty Ideal is packed full of great tips and products to jump start your summer, so head on over there now.

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I’m a little behind in my regular postings but Toya from The Life of a Ladybug saved me from a postless day by tagging me, phew!

Here goes -

1. Where was I 10 years ago? Back in 1998, I was just finishing up my Freshman year at Cal State Long Beach and realizing that Graphic Design wasn’t my calling. I don’t really remember where I was working, although I’m pretty sure it was at Macy’s in South Coast Plaza.

2. What are five things on my To Do list today? I really need to finish up an assignment I’m working on for an extracurricular class I’m taking, try out the new Spinlash mascara I received last week, and that’s about it! My To Do lists are much longer on the weekends - laundry and grocery shopping are among things I need to get done on Sunday.

3. What are some snacks I enjoy? I’m not a huge snacker, but when I do, I like more savory snacks - rice cakes, Corn Nuts (Ranch, baby!), and Rice Krispy treats on occasion when I crave something sweet.

4. Places I’ve Lived: Garden Grove, CA; San Francisco, CA; and Joliet, IL

5. Things I’d Do If I Were a Billionaire: Take care of my family and close friends, buy a home and vacation spot for us to enjoy. I’d become more involved in charities that benefit less fortunate folks in Vietnam and other southeast Asian countries. Lastly, I’d try to create some sort of business and turn it into my family’s legacy so that my kids and their kids will always be taken care of even after I’m gone. I’d also probably go on a few vacations, shop a bit, invest wisely and then just relax!

6. People I’d Want To Know More About: This one’s a tough one! I think I’d love to really just get to cool people like you!

What are some of your answers to this game of tag? I’d love to hear in Comments

Hope you’re all having a great Tuesday! My afternoon’s kinda off today and I’m feelin’ a little funky, but hopefully I’ll be back to normal by dinner time.

Yesterday I attended the Allure Dior Confessions of a Beauty Director event at Nordstrom in Downtown San Francisco. It was super fun for me since I hadn’t tried Dior cosmetics for a while and was excited to finally discover some!

But before my makeover, I got to sit down for a few minutes and chat with Nordstrom Beauty Director Joelle Russo. She’s absolutely gorgeous and extremely nice. I couldn’t wait to pick her brain for some of her must-have Dior products as well as favorite beauty techniques.

Joelle loves Dior SkinFlash Radiance Booster Pen ($33 US) as a combo concealer and skin brightener. Use it on imperfect areas to reduce dark areas, shadows, and fine lines. (more…)

How amazing do those crystal clear waters look? It’s that time of year for summer vacations and unfortunately I don’t have any big trips planned in the near future. But if I did have something planned, I’d definitely consider Mexico as a destination I’d love to visit. And I’m not talking about beyond-the-CA-border Baja or Ensenada. I’m talkin’ about the “real”Mexico - Cozumel or going to the Mayan Ruins.

So what if you could win a trip for two to Mexico? You’d jump at the opportunity, no? Of course you would so what are you waiting for? To play the Meet Me in Mexico contest, head on over to Glam.com and guess the destination in the photo above for your chance to win!

Then come back to The Daily Cookie each week where I’ll post a new photo for additional chances to win. The contest lasts for four weeks and every correct answer each week will enter you in a pool where a winner will be chosen at random at the end of the promotion.

Love contests? Subscribe to The Daily Cookie RSS feed and email to hear about the latests giveaways - because you know you like free stuff just as much as I do!

Hey MAC lovers, if you liked MAC’s Strobe collection from earlier this year featuring the awesome tinted lip balms with SPF in them, you’re gonna like MAC Tendertones, out on counters now.

MAC is bringing these little potted lip balms with SPF 12 back for the summer in six new colors and four re-promoted shades. Since these are creamier than the tinted balms that come in a tube, you might like Tendertones if you prefer something that’s a little more emollient and longer lasting - these hot babies are made with shea butter in them!

While I like the color varieties of these lippies - there really is a shade in this bunch for everyone to wear on a daily basis, they’re pretty sheer upon application. The other thing is, if you know me, you know that I don’t like to stick my finger in it to use it. However, from the looks of the consistency, it’s pretty creamy and would probably be easier applied with a lip brush of sorts, especially if you’re a sanitation freak like I am when it comes to lip products.

For complete collection information, (more…)

Happy Friday everyone!

Are you all dolled up and ready to head out for some Sex? .. and the City, I mean!

I’m super excited to check out the movie this weekend but as I mentioned yesterday, I can’t go until tomorrow. So to alleviate my anxiety, I tried to spruce up my makeup today with subtle touches of color. Looking at the photos, it’s not as bright as it is when I’m out and about, but you get the idea - yes?

It’s inspired from Prescriptives’ Urban Heat summer collection photo since I want to punch up my summer makeup with a bit of color. I really love the teal eye liner. I was expecting it to be more of a blue, but the teal actually suits my tastes better as I think I can use it in more fun looks aside from the traditional navy.   (more…)

Girls, we’re less than 24 hours to the premiere of the Sex and the City movie premiering in theaters tomorrow! I’m super excited - can’t wait to see how they write the girls’ characters to see what they’ve been up to. Unfortunately, I’m not going to get to see the movie until Saturday.. my girl J is moving to NYC next week and we’re celebrating her last hours in on the West Coast with some drinks!

So how do you think Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha are going to end up? A friend of mine thinks that Aiden will come back, tell Carrie that he loves her so that she’ll break up with Big. The wedding will be called off and then Aiden will die - is that crazy or what? I can’t imagine that he was serious about all that, although that scenario would leave it extremely open ended for a sequel, yes?

I honestly don’t think that will happen, but I can barely speculate what the turn of events will be. Check out the official Sex and the City trailer and let me know what you think will happen!

Are you and your girlfriends planning a special outing to see the movie? Glammin’ it up with hot hair and makeup and a fabulous outfit?! I’m not sure I’ll be doing all that.. but we’ll just see now won’t we?

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{Photos/Trailer: New Line Cinema}

If you’re like me, returning to the office after a glorious three-day weekend was a hard thing to do.  I decided I needed something to help me ease my way back into the grind without going completely crazy.

As I was getting ready to unwind for the evening after a long Memorial Day out in the city, I decided to try a couple of items from Johnson’s new Melt Away Stress line I received a few weeks ago. Because I rarely do baths (no tub in my shower), I took a hot shower using Moisturizing Body Wash. Immediately after, I slathered on some Dreamy Night Cream and sat back to watch some Flavor of Love 3.

Can I just tell you how great this stuff is? I felt comfy and cozy almost immediately.  The Melt Away Stress line has yummy stuff like chamomile and lavender in it which are aromatic to help calm your senses. Not only did I feel relaxed (maybe it was the fact that I was finally doing absolutely nothing after a long day?), but I loved how great I smelled - although it was a little overwhelming at first, it mellowed out beautifully just before bedtime.

I recommend this combo if you’re looking to give yourself a quick treat without spending loads at the spa. It gave me such a good night’s sleep, I almost forgot that I was waking up to go back to work - thank goodness for a 4-day work week though! And now we’re already on Thursday, can you believe it?

Johnson’s Melt Away Stress products can be found at your local hot spots like Rite-Aid, CVS, and Walgreen’s now.

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For those of you who are not from the Bay Area, here’s my opportunity to share my glorious city with you!

On Memorial Day, the Boyfriend and I went on a date to the Metreon to catch a movie. Iron Man was so fun; it making me like Robert Downey, Jr. all that much more when I see him. He’s sassy and a great actor - when is the sequel coming out?!

Afterwards, we cruised around San Francisco for a few hours trying to kill time before our dinner reservation. While aimlessly roaming around the city, we started to realize what a wonderful day it was in the Bay Area and decided to play tourist. We drove through Fisherman’s Wharf and heading up to Telegraph Hill to catch the glorious views and spend a few minutes at Coit Tower. (more…)

With summer quickly approaching and frequent trips to southern California where everyone is expected to be a certan level of tan, I knew I needed to do something about my pale, Casper-esque legs fast! If you’re from San Francisco, you know that getting a tan the conventional way is hard to do since it’s usually pretty foggy or overcast in most areas around the city.

In the past, I dabbled a little in tanning beds and spray tanning but just couldn’t hang with how damaging those lights are for your skin, or the orange coloring spray tans gave me. So for years, I hid my colorless legs under pants but lately I’ve been asking, why deprive myself of cute little sun dresses in Orange County’s regular 75 degree weather? (more…)