M. writes: Love your blog and the book… I just have a little question regarding mascara… I know you love Lancome Definicils but you occasionally mention Max Factor Lash Perfection. I am always looking to try new mascaras, so what about the Definicils is better than the Lash Perfection to justify the $18 price difference? Thanks love!

Hi M.!  Thanks for your message! You won’t go wrong with Max Factor Lash Perfection—or Cover Girl Lash Blast, which is my new favorite drugstore offering. (One caveat; as much as I love Lash Blast, I’ve noticed it does have the occasional tendency to flake.  Combat this by running the closed tube under hot water.) Lancome Definicils is an all-time favorite because of the brush, which does a spectacular job at lengthening and defining. Lash Perfection, on the other hand, has a comb brush, which grabs all your lashes and thoroughly pulls the mascara formula through. Both are excellent in their own ways (Max Factor is great for lush, fat lashes, whereas Lancome excels at long and spidery) so in the end, it comes down to whether you feel like spending a few extra bucks for a tube that says Lancome on it!  (Yup, it’s all about marketing.)

By the way, two new mascaras I’m really digging—just in case I didn’t already give you enough options—are Too Faced Lash Injection Pin Point (gets every…single…lash!) and Loose Lips Ultimate Volume Mascara (for crazy volume).

I’m a sucker for lip balms, especially those that not only moisturize well but also smell yummy.  My latest addiction is Loose Lips NY Lip Balm Balls: they’re vanilla-scented, have SPF 20 and stay on lips for hours (you know how some balms feel good when you put them on, but have evaporated fifteen minutes later?  These stick!).  What it really comes down to, however, is that I’m a preteen girl at heart–I simply love the round ball packaging, and the fact that the balms are so damn cute!

Loose Lips is giving away 10 balms to Jolie readers; the first ten peeps to reply in the comments with your email address and favorite lip gloss, balm or lipstick will win!

Check out TotalBeauty.com for a quiz on sun-care written by yours truly!

I’m having a weird beauty blogger existential dilemma right now.  The Lancome Oscillation mascara, as you might know, is on sale today (for One…Day…Only!) at Sephora.com, Lancome.com and in select boutiques.  (It appears to have already sold out at at Sephora, FYI, but is still currently available on the Lancome website.)  Everybody is freaking out over the fabulosity of said mascara (and by everybody I mean a select group of beauty obsessees, assorted bloggeratti and various editors), and of course I’m also dying to try it, seeing as I’ve championed Lancome’s formulas for years, and have sung their praises all over Beauty Confidential.  But, as I went to the website, filled out my information, and was about to press the “buy” button, I thought, “Wait a second.  What am I really buying this for?”  So that I can feel exclusive?  As though I have the inside track over millions of women who won’t try it until it’s released in December?  I already have six unopened mascaras in the queue, and it’s not as if I’ll be the only beauty blogger writing about it tomorrow.  In that case, is it really worth the $34? 

And if I’m not willing to fork out money for beauty products unless I do actually have the inside track–or am in dire need, feeling impetuous at CVS, or traveling in Europe…does that just make me a cheap bastard? 

Over the years, I’ve written at length about how beauty editors (and now bloggers) receive free products, and I’ll admit that I haven’t paid for any makeup in ages.  Hell, even random items like deodorant and razors often arrive on my doorstep.  We serve as guinea pigs, testing and writing about things so other women can decide for themselves how to spend their cash.  But today, I’m just a beauty consumer like everybody else…and practicality (hey, the economic crisis stretches to Jolie, too!) is winning out over curiosity. 

Teen Vogue Beauty Director Eva Chen has a sneak-peek at Lancome’s new vibrating mascara Oscillation, whose debut you’d better believe the beauty world is watching with a close eye.  (I’m sure it’ll clean up at next year’s CEW awards, and you can probably expect all manner of randomly battery-powered beauty loot in the near future.  Electronic foundation brushes!  Line-dotting khol needles!)  Curious to try it?  Eva reports that Oscillation will be available tomorrow–for one day, only!–at select retailers.  Check out locations here.

My darlings!  You know how I feel about cellulite creams: mucho suspicious, of course.  (Yes, they can make a difference in the appearance of skin temporarily, but we’re not talking liposuction results.  When dealing with anything that promises to banish wrinkles or fat for-evah!, realistic expectations are key.)  So, how about the chance to test one of your own, for free?  That’s right, no blowing your hard earned money…and, just maybe, slightly sleeker thighs, too.  Not that anything is wrong with your gorgeous thighs just the way they are.  I know that.  You know that.  (Right?) But, hey, we’re human and we all want to look our best, so no judging!

Nivea has partnered with me to give away 25 tubes of their Good-bye Cellulite Gel Cream, which retails for $12.99 and includes L-Carnitine, which helps convert fat into energy.  The first 25 gals who reply in the comments below with their email address and all-time favorite body product (moisturizing cream!  bath gel!  No!No! hair remover!  Whatever!) will win.  Good luck…

Check out Allure.com Daily Beauty Reporter Jessica Matlin’s take on her five current favorite volumizing mascaras.  Her picks include Avon Supershock Mascara, which she compares to DiorShow in terms of brush chubbiness. 

Ahh, DiorShow. 

Can I confess something here?  I might be the only beauty editor and makeup aficionado on the planet who doesn’t have spontaneous orgasms because of DiorShow’s so-called fabulosity.  Now, I like DiorShow.  I name check it in Beauty Confidential (page 110), and it is, indeed, very, very good.  But I always feel like I’m missing something when I read flowery, gushing, OTT reviews proclaiming it as The Best Ever!  Really?  Ever?  For me, the brush is just a bit too fat, and I can’t reach those tiny hidden corner lashes that you don’t notice until they’re defined (and then it’s, like, Wow!), and I find it awfully prone to clumping, and I simply can’t stand that rose scent.  I feel like I’m using my great-grandmother’s mascara from 1893.  Don’t get me wrong: I don’t stabby-hate it.  There will just be no babies made with it.  Et tu, beautés?

After hearing so much about the Clarisonic, a sonic oscillation face brush that’s supposed to be twice as effective at cleaning skin as the lazy ol’ regular method, I was of course eager to try it.  My very own version arrived today, delivered by the magic beauty fairies, so I’ll try it out tonight and let you know how it goes.  Perhaps tomorrow I will emerge looking so clean, so young, so vibrant that I’ll appear, like, twelve.  Dare to dream!