Don't Need No Credit Card To Ride This Train Week: New Johnson's Body Care 24 Hour Body Lotion

I've long hated the scent of baby powder. Even as a child, I LOATHED Love's Baby Soft and gave away multiple bottles I'd received as gifts (even as a child, people knew I loved a beauty gift... unfortch, just not THAT one).


Also unfortch, I'd long been avoiding Johnson's products solely because they have a tendency to smell of baby powder. Don't get me wrong - a lot of people love that smell. I'm just not one of them. Well, Johnson's has totes changed their ways because their new lotion smells fresh and clean with notes of roses and sandalwood - not a smidge of baby powder to be found. Not so much rose that it veers into Golden Girls territory, just a tiny hint of it. It leaves no greasiness post-application and even includes a mica-flecked formula to reflect light and illuminate skin. I did a test to see if this stuff REALLY lasts 24 hours, as it claims and know what? It plum DID. Love it.


Best of all? 14 oz. will set you back $5.49. Can't beat it with a stick!

Don't Need No Credit Card To Ride This Train Week: L'Oreal HIP Jelly Balm

At $9, this little jewel is a frugalista version of MAC's famed Tendertones SPF 12 from this past summer. L'Oreal HIP Jelly Balms are to die. You know I'm pressed on a gloss when I write about it despite the fact that it lives in a pot. Given the many options I have, it's rare that I deign to love a pot gloss. When I don't have to, I don't "do pot." I don't enjoy a mess- on-my finger-sensation, you know?

But the high-pigmented Jelly Balms (and Tendertones, for that matter) are worth it (and L'Oreal thinks you are, as well). Jelly balms are silky in texture, yet slightly thicker than your garden variety balm. There's no shimmer, so shimmer junkies need look elsewhere for a "fix," but they do fulfill your need for vinyl shine. They yield excellent color pay-off and taste like delish caramel. If only L'Oreal would include SPF in its formula, Jelly Balms would establish perm residency in my beach bag. Until then, it makes for a wonderful, hydrating winter gloss. Get you some of that at drugstores everywhere. I enjoy the "Plush" shade, a blushy pink.

Don't Need No Credit Card To Ride This Train Week: Venus Spa Breeze

The blush pink Venus Spa Breeze system is pretty freaking phenom AND wallet-friendly.

Its razor cartridges contain built-in shave gel bars that provide a light, moisturizing lather, eliminating the need for a separate shave gel. AND the shave gel bars yield a delish white tea scent. I am into its firm grip inducing handle. I have a tendency to cut myself horror movie-style when I'm in a rush. This little gem handles curves like a pro.

In fact, were I to use the great Bruno's (from Da Ali G Show) rating system, which assigns notes as ratings, I'd give it an "aaahhh!" (close to the top of the scale) as opposed to an "uuuuhhhhh." (imagine a lower, gutteral note.)


Available in February 2009 in disposable and refillable forms at food, drug, and mass merchandise stores. The nondisposable system includes the refillable razor, two shave gel cartridges, and a shower compact for $9.99. Don't need no credit card to ride this train!

Don't Need No Credit Card To Ride This Train Week: Nair Precision Face and Upper Lip Kit

So here's the deal. I don't HAVE a 'stache, per se. It's a few blonde hairs near the outer corners of my upper lip. I had been waxing it myself like, once every four months or so. And it takes a full four months before I need to worry about it. Everytime I even think about women bleaching/waxing/depilating their 'staches, BTW, I ALWAYS think of that Everybody Loves Raymond episode when Deborah gets caught by Ray bleaching her 'stache during her "alone time" and he, visibly horrified, asks her if she'll be tying any women to train tracks. HILAR.

Regardless, it's NOT sexy and I don't want it in my lifestyle. But there are things I'm willing to pay a professional to do. Like my fab quarterly haircuts with Matthew James at Sam Brocato Salon (I got one on Saturday and it continues to be the best bargain 'cut in NYC at only $85!).

But anywho, to ensure I don't have any "lipular forestation," as Raymond refers to it, I take matters into my own hands and employ Nair Precision Face and Upper Lip Kit ($5). You apply it with the convenient lip balmesque applicator, wait five minutes, wipe it off with a damp washcloth, then follow with some of the enclosed moisturizer. THAT'S IT. It painlessly depilates all traces of hair from my lifestyle, and I'm once again free for another four months.

Don't Need No Credit Card to Ride This Train Week: Cold & Flu Instant Aromatherapy

First of all. I need to disclose that it is 100% NOT coming together today. Last night Jim and I had a "mentor program" meeting (where I mentor him about beauty/grooming blogging) that began at Lucy's of Gramercy and ended 15 cocktails later at Splash's weekly Musical Monday party. Let me describe the scene. One MILLION fabulous gays. A handful of girls. An enormous screen featuring vignettes of the gayest musical numbers. I adore it. Liza Minelli in Caberet. Judy Garland in anything. Pippin numbers. The Sound of Music. So Jim was somehow getting coupons for buy-one-get-one-free drinks from the scantily clad bartender (bartenders at Splash simply wear UNDERPANTS) who is ACTUALLY the brother of the dude from The Gong Show. I also found out that Jim has been to Studio 54 AND was once on the receiving end of a drink from THE Steve Rubell. Can you even? (I can't.) But I digress, Sophia Petrillo style.

I learned today about Cold & Flu Instant Aromatherapy from Bath & Body Works ($10, buy 2 for $15! This kicks it UNDER the $10 mark for DNNCCTRTT Week!). Today was exactly one day too late. Just launched this month, this product is an all-natural blend of Eucalyptus, Basil, Spearmint, Wild Mint, Lavender, Cedar Leaf and Laurel essential oils to provide relief from cold and flu symptoms.

Now, it's absolutely intended for those who are sick not because of their own stupidity. But do you not think that this stuff would be a DREAM to have on hand when, say, you thought it was a good idea to order your 10th vodka soda from the drag queen waitress while singing "Memories" from Cats at the top of your lungs circa 10pm on a Monday? I'm just saying, it's a small comfort that would have been nice to have at the ready along with my Ginger Ale this morning on my rougher-than-ush subway commute.

Available at Bath & Body Works stores nationwide and Bathandbodyworks.com.

Don't Need No Credit Card To Ride This Train Week: Boots No7 Quick-Thinking 4-in-1 Wipes

Today's under $10 beauty bargain is the fabulous 30 pack of Boots No7 Quick-Thinking 4-in-1 Wipes. At $7, these little gems are good to your skin even when you're pressed for time. Too many glasses of pink champagne? Not a prob. One quick swoop across your face and you're freed from makeup, dirt, and oil. Even better, they're good for all skin types and include a cocktail of fantast ingredients such as witch hazel and fennel, fab for cleansing pores and moisturizing.

Boots is a truly phenom brand from London which recently crossed the pond and is sold exclusively at Target and Target.com.

Don't Need No Credit Card To Ride This Train Week: Kings & Queens King of Sumatra Pepper Bergamot Soap

Hello all, and WELCOME to Don't Need No Credit Card to Ride This Train Week! Obv, the name is a line from Huey Lewis and the News' Power of Love, a.k.a. the theme song of one of my favorite movies, Back to the Future.

This beauty theme week is inspired no doubt by These Economic Times. Every product I feature during DNNCCTRTT Week will be under $10. I've been drugstore-ing it for months to bring you suggestions to spend your money the best way possible.

The first item is Kings & Queens King of Sumatra Pepper Bergamot Soap ($6). If you like Bliss' Blood Orange + White Pepper line, you'll ADORE Pepper Bergamot. It's an unlikely combo, but pepper and citrus is brisk, refreshing, and tempered with a hint of sweet. In case you don't know, Kings & Queens is a truly fantastic line of bargain-priced products with a clever marketing platform based on history. The line educates consumers about the decadance of royals past with a fun twist. I've previously reviewed their phenom George III Lime Shower Gel.

According to the press release: Black Pepper was the most sought-after spice from antiquity to the Middle Ages. One of its best qualities comes from Sumatra, where legends about the constant struggle between local kings, colonialists, and pirates are still alive. Fortunately, today there is no need to fight for pepper... since we can enjoy it at any time, even in a scandalous combination with Bergamot.

The soap is long-lasting, superfoamy, and smells utterly delish. It includes a blend of pomegranate, blue Egyptian lotus an dmalachite extracts. I also have to throw in a quick recommendation for the brand's Aztec King Vanilla Pear Shower Gel ($9). In pre-Columbian Mexico, vanilla was considered a potent aphrodisiac, which is why the Aztec kings and their many wives consumed countless cups of vanilla drinks every day. The pearlescent shower gel smells fresh without being too sugary and leaves skin soft.

King & Queens products are sold at Beauty.com, Fred Segal, and Skinstore.com.