A great gift to give any women in your life is Giella custom blend cosmetics. There is no more guessing on what shade will work best for you (or her). They make cosmetic pencils for lips, eyes, and brows. They also have concealer. For your lips, they have custom blend pencils that range from sheer to cream to full bodied. You can even add soy butter and conditioners if you like. For your eyes, you can create the perfect eye liner. You can keep it matte or add some shimmer in gold, silver, copper, or bronze. For brows, you can create a color that matches your hair, softens your brows, and is smudge proof. Madison and I tried the nail polish they also have this afternoon. It dried pretty quick with a great shine. The lipstick and lip gloss also has a great look to it. I love that you can customize everything, so it looks best with your hair color and skin tone. We watched While You Were Out Today, and this is a great show to see how much a little of the right kind of makeup can make a difference!  I’m not sure if they used this kind of makeup.  However, they had a lady that had 80’s makeup and was using all the wrong colors.  When they updated her look and showed her the right colors for her skintone, the difference was amazing.

The best part is that this can all be made while you are waiting. It takes about 5 minutes to make. You can find this at Henri Bendel’s in New York City, selec t salons in Baltimore, Louisiana, and Philadelphia, and online at www.giella.com.  To do this for Christmas, here’s what you need to do:

Purchase an empty lipstick case, lip gloss wand, cheek tint or concealer compact or nail polish bottle, and we will fill it according to what your gift recipient wants.  They will send the empty component(s) (for lips, cheeks or nails) with instructions of how to pick the perfect color and texture online at www.giella.com. Then they will mail the personalized custom colors and keep the formulas on file for future reorders.  How easy is that shopping, and you (or the woman you are shopping for) gets exactly what they want!

Do you or your significant other like romance novels?  If so, you definitely need to check out yournovel.com.  This site allows you to star in your own romance novel.  There are 24 different novels you can pick from and you choose if you want a “mild” or a “wild” book.  You can chose all sorts of setting including Tahiti, Rome, Alaska, Jamaica, Caribbean, and a ski resort just to name a few.  You are able to choose if you want the book to be a softcover or a hardcover too.  All you do is submit some information about yourself like your name, town you live in, closest airport, favorite color, where you work, eye and hair color, favorite music, and few more things (there are 26 questions).  It is actually quite easy to fill out.  The books average around 160 pages.  The cover can even be personalized to your picture!

This is definitely a unique gift that keeps on giving.  She won’t be expecting this on Christmas!

Sometimes you come across a product that you know another mother had to have designed. The Bathtub Assistant is one of these products. Designed by a mother whose son hit the faucet in the tub when he slipped out of her hands (and ended up with a black eye), it allows you to support yourself without having to lean against the tub.

First, the thing I love the most about this product is that it keeps mommy dry.  Nothing is more frustrating to me than having to change my clothes after giving my kids a bath because I leaned up against the side of the tub that happened to be all wet (and this ends up happening more times than not).  Instead, you are leaning against a cushion that is actually quite comfortable.  Second, I was able to put this together all by myself with a little help from the directions.  I personally hate products that require me to be brain surgeon to figure out.  These aren’t those type of directions.  Third, it is adustable for short people like me!  I was able to use it and so was my husband (who is a foot taller than me!)  Lastly, The Bathtub Assistant fold up, so when not in use, it doesn’t take up much space at all.  Also, it makes it super easy to travel with too!

If you are looking for a prodcut to make your life easier if you have little ones, then this is it.  It also would make a great baby shower gift or baby gift for the new moms in your life!

This Sony DSLR camera is my first “real” camera. This is definitely not a point and shoot camera. However, this another camera that you don’t need to read the book to figure out how to use it.  You also don’t have to contact a few mortgage lenders to be able to afford it either!  You will find that the majority of my pictures on Lisa Cooking are done with this camera.  My inlaws also took it to Hawaii with them on their vacation.

Some of the highlights of this camera include 10.2-megapixel Super HAD CCD which gives you clear, sharp photos, Live Preview of your subject, Tiltable 2.7-inch Clear Photo LCD Plus screen, Continuous shooting while viewing, Smart teleconverter 2x zoom, Expanded ISO sensitivity, Super SteadyShot in-camera image stabilization, Bionz image processor, 1200-zone evaluative metering, Dynamic Range Optimizer, Anti-Dust technology, Auto Pop-up flash, Eye-Start autofocus system, 9-point center cross AF sensor, Scene Selection modes: Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports, Sunset and Night Portrait/Night View situations, Creative Style Settings including Standard, Vivid, Portrait, Landscape, Night View, Sunset, B&W and Adobe RGB modes, Index and Slide Show Display, High-resolution thumbnails for PhotoTV HD viewing, Function Guide Display On-screen menus are intuitive and easy to use, Stamina Battery Power, and High-capacity media options.

In plain English, you’ll take some of the best pictures of your life with this DSLR camera.  The picture to the left here was taken the same day I got the camera.  If I could figure out how to use the DSLR in one day, anybody can use this camera!

Challenges of Life is a blog that has a little bit of everything.  I read posts about how to get your kids to eat vegetables and tips to applying makeup.  As you can tell, she covers all aross the board.  Normally, orange is not a color I like especially on a theme.  However, Challenges of Life pulls it off with style.  This blog has an awesome design.  You don’t have 40 million widgets blinking at you.  Everything just compliments each other.  Her blog theme is very pleasing to the eye, and her sidebars definitely do not take away from the post content.  Like I stated in my last review, the only thing I would change is that she needs an about page.  I like to read about the author of the blog.  It gives one a better understanding of why they write about what they do and gives another glimpse into their life.

If you are in need of a bathroom sink vanity, Premiere Vanities should be a place you stop and check out. They have everything from contemporary bathroom vanities to double vanities. They have a style for everyone there.  You can pick from something like this:

all the way to something like this:

The first thing you notice when you visit their site is that it has a very clean design.  Everything is laid out so it is pleasing to the eye.  Navigating the site is super easy too.  If you look in the left sidebar, you can sort their vanities by type, style, price, and size.  You can even run a sort on just clearance items!  Another good thing that they do is that they have free shipping.  I can only imagine what the other online companies charge for shipping.  These vanities have to be pretty heavy and that could cost a bundle to ship.  They also have a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  If you get your product and decide you don’t like it, you can send it back.  You can even track your order right from their site!  If are able to use Paypal also to make your purchase.  I personally like companies that allow me to pay using that service.

If you are in the market for some new bathroom sink vanities, make sure you check out Premiere Vanities.  You will be able to find something that will look awesome in your house for a good price.  Who knows, when you go to sell it, it may make the sale or be an awesome talking point for your house.  You always want something good that makes your house stick out from the rest, and one of these vanities will definitely do that for you.