As women, we want our mascara to be a macho man -- thick, long, long-lasting, conditioning and waterproof. Okay, maybe that was the wrong metaphor but regardless, we expect a lot out of our mascara but we might not be doing our part in meeting our partner half way.

Here are a few helpful hints to get the best show out of your favorite mascara.

I'll be honest with you -- I have seriously botched my hair color with at-home products. I've turned it green and I've turned it brassy gold, and I've definitely learned that hair color is something to leave to the pros. Most of the time.

With summer coming up, many of you will be heading to the salon to get some highlights, and chances are it won't be cheap. Personally, I love the look of subtle highlights, but I'm not into roots, and I hate having to spend $140 every six weeks. And so, I've found a great solution -- Clairol Natural Instincts semi-permanent hair color.

Natural Instincts has loads of shades and it's easy to find the right one for you -- their Find Your Shade function is excellent. It actually gave me the exact three colors I switch between (Amber Shimmer, Toasted Almond, and Navajo Bronze, depending on time of year and how light my highlights are). What makes this product even better is that it smells great, cleans up easily, only takes 10 minutes, and leaves my hair feeling really soft.

Of course, if you're preparing for an event and your hair has to be just right, see a professional or at least try the product out months beforehand to make sure you'll get the result you want. In my experience, though, Natural Instincts is a huge time saver, and, at under $10 a box, it's a big money saver, too!

Do you have an trick to extend time between visits to the salon? Do tell!

Let's say you're a fashionable Christian and you want to look your very best. Would you be inclined to support a line of cosmetics called "Lookin' Good for Jesus," or would you, like the people of Singapore, be offended? I suppose it's a matter of personal opinion, but Roman Catholics in Singapore complained that the items were offensive and they were subsequently pulled from stores.

Produced by Blue Q the line promises to "Redeem your reputation and more." Products include a "virtuous vanilla" lip balm and "Get Tight with Christ" hand and body cream.

According to The Straits Times (via MSNBC):

On the packaging of one of the products, Jesus, wearing a bright white robe, looks heavenward while a blond, heavily made-up woman with an arm draped across his shoulder gazes dreamily at his face.

"Why would anyone use religious figures to promote vanity products? It's very disrespectful and distasteful," the report quoted 24-year-old accountant Grace Ong, also Catholic, as saying.

Judging by the fact that Blue Q has other lines called "Dirty Girl," "Cat Butt," "Mullet," and "Balls," I think it's fairly clear what their intentions were when creating the products. Offensive sells.

They do make this though, which I've actually purchased as a gag gift. So, there's that.

I first learned about C.O. Bigelow's mint-infused lip balms through a magazine interview with Parker Posey, who swears by the stuff. Intrigued, I picked up a couple of tubes the next time I was at a Bath & Body Works.

The no-shine chapstick variety is my personal favorite for everyday use. This stick is 9% shea butter, so it goes on smooth and makes my lips feel super soft even during these harsh winter months. I also love how the 2% peppermint oil infusion makes my lips tingle and leaves me feeling refreshed. The peppermint is also supposed to help freshen breath, though if I'd just eaten a big garlic-laden dinner I'd still want to pop a Listerine tab or two.

The mint-infused balm comes in a few tinted varieties as well, which are more lip gloss like, plus there is a whole line of mentha body care products. A recent issue of Real Simple magazine picked these lip balms as one of their must-have beauty picks. I've gotta say, I totally agree.

There are two sides to having puffy, black rings under your eyes. The obvious is that they make you look tired and unhealthy and are generally not something you enjoy on your face.

The second and less popular option is that of acceptance. This is where I have been living. I can't go to a store without someone commenting on how tired I look. Generally speaking, I am tired, so I try not to take offense. The thing is that some of the time I'm not, and hearing the unavoidable comment just deflates the balloon out of my day. It's like asking a heavy woman when she's due. That never goes over well.

That's not to say that fun can't be had. I'm not above making up excuses for my eyesore(s). The cute server at Chili's? As far she knows I have two black eyes from that scuffle in which I saved the honor/lives of many maidens/orphans/puppies. The lovely librarian thinks that I'm up drinking heavily and living the life of Hemingway. Well, hell, they're both right.

Except that I haven't been in a scuffle since college and I if I stay up drinking heavily I'm more likely to be in bed for 3 days rather than making chit-chat in my local public library.

I decided to go with the former (remember the former, like two chapters ago?). I've tried various eye treatments to reduce the puffy swelling and dark rings that have been camping under my eyes since the Bush years (it's all very recent). None of them have worked.

Currently I'm trying Revitalizing Eye Creme Q10 from NIVEA for Men ($11.95). I haven't noticed a change.

I'm a fan of NIVEA products and I really want this one to work, albeit to rid myself of my problem and not as some skin care fanboy.

That said, I'll use the bottle and hope that it takes more than a few weeks to see results. Most likely I'll be looking for something new. Maybe I'll meet it in a drugstore, maybe I'll find it online, or maybe I'll find myself passing make-up counters that aren't even on my way home.

In the meantime I'll be up drinking heavily and saving puppies.

It doesn't matter how old or young you are, no one likes to get blemishes. Recently blemishes were practically attacking my skin and I had been actively seeking a skincare solution. I was able to find one miracle product; unfortunately that product seriously broke the bank. I needed something effective that I could afford.

Enter the most unlikely source of blemish relief, Neosporin. My best friend's aunt drunkenly slipped me a tube of the "white stuff" during a Christmas party and told me she 'just handed me the ultimate beauty secret.'

At the time I had no idea that her crazy secret just might work. A few days later I sprouted a nasty pimple on my chin and reached for my tube of "white stuff." I slathered the Neosporin on my chin and waited for a miracle. Two days later my blemish was history and with no scaring left behind.

Get this miracle in a tube at your local drugstore for less than $6.

Brow compacts are common among high-end cosmetics companies, but the nifty little arch tamers have yet to infiltrate the drugstore beauty aisles. It's really a shame, since the combination of wax and filler powder can perform miracles for your unruly brows. Of course, brow kits don't come cheap -- most kits cost over 20 clams.

Drugstore beauty line NYC has finally tapped into the brow kit market. From what I can tell, the results are comparable to those of the expensive brands. The powder and wax hold up for the entire day and wash out easily with your regular nighttime facial cleanser. Considering that the NYC version only costs $3.99, it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to shell out $25 for basically the exact same product.

But isn't that always the rub of the Drugstore Beauty Queen?

This will likely be the last of the facial cleansing cloths I am going to try for a bit. Several weeks ago, I did a whole Drugstore Beauty Queen series on these convenient little things to clean your face, whether it's easier to take along when travelling, or easier for a lazy person to remove makeup at the end of the night. Let's just say that it's Sarah taking control of her addiction. I've just sort of become lazy about skin care because these things are too easy!

I was a little reluctant to buy Noxzema Wet Cleansing Cloths because, like Clearasil, it made me feel like I was thrown back to high school, treating an acne-ridden face. I couldn't resist the price tag, though. Since the brand is marketed at the younger crowd (read: teens), the price point is lower. At Drugstore.com, the Noxzema wipes are only $3.99! I paid slightly more at a local drugstore, but not much.

It all started with the Lancome Juicy Tubes for me. I was absolutely smitten with the super glossy shine, the delicious flavors, but most of all, I was taken by the convenience and neat-ness of the tube (rather than, say, a tube with a wand). However, Lancome Juicy tubes are expensive, particularly when I blow through a tube in under a month!

Luckily, there isn't a single drugstore cosmetics brand that doesn't make a similar gloss. The most recent installment for me is the Naughty or Nice Collection of MAXalicious by Max Factor. The glosses are super glossy, super shiny from sparkly pieces in the gloss, and best of all, they're not sticky. This, of course, is something I just recently realized. The drugstore lip glosses are now my preference because they're not sticky. My MAXalicious flavor of the month is Champagne Bath, from the Naughty collection (naturally).

MAXalicious glosses are available at any drugstore, about $6.

Last month, I made my way through three different brands of facial cleansing cloths: Pond's Clean Sweep Cleansing Towelettes, Olay Daily Facials, and Garnier Nutri-pure Wet Cleansing Towelettes. This week, I have regressed to my high school days and have turned to Clearasil's Daily Cleanse Acne-fighting Cleansing Wipes.

Normally, I don't use skincare products that are so blatantly "acne-fighting" (I am in my thirties, after all), but I thought I'd give the 2% salicylic acid formula a try since the seasonal transition from chilly spring to hot summer weather was making my skin react in horribly teenage-angst-ridden ways.

The wipes are much drier than the other three, which I didn't like as much, since it didn't feel like there was anything on them to clean off my makeup and dirt. The fact that they were also "smooth" as opposed to textured (the way a paper towel is textured) also felt like it was doing less work.

Overall, I didn't like the results of these. I had to use two wipes each time to fully get my makeup off, and they left a strange, filmy, oily residue on my face. As far as it working to fight acne -- well, let's just say I'm still relying fairly heavily on my concealer.

In case you've missed it, I've been going through the facial cleansing cloths shelf of my local drugstore. I have, of late, become addicted to these things because let's face it, they're infinitely more convenient than standing over the sink, getting water all over the place washing your face. I've already let you know about Pond's Clean Sweep and Olay Daily Facial Express. Today, it's Garnier Nutri-Pure Detoxifying Wet Cleansing Towelettes, which were actually the first ones I tried.

And even after I begrudgingly went through the 30 towelettes in just under two weeks, I still thought cleansing cloths were a good thing. You see, the Garnier ones were not very good. They didn't remove a lot of my makeup -- I'd use it at night, and in the morning when I used them again, I would still see traces of makeup from the night before. I also broke out with blemishes, and I'm quite certain that it had nothing to do with the extreme stress or poor diet I was experiencing at the time. (I am under stress every day). It surprised me, since I've had great results with other Garnier products in the past.

It's certainly not that I think every woman should run around some like crazy divorcee. Orly's Divorcee 6-pack of nail colors is actually a pretty comprehensive set of colors that range from a sheer white (great for summer!) to a deep dark plum that looks almost black. However, the best part of Orly's Divorcee 6-pack, which makes it good for every woman who has had to deal with some sort of troublesome relationship, are the names of the colors. When you're doubting yourself, just put on "Pawn the Ring," or "See Yah." My favorite, of course, is "It's Not Me, It's You."

The pack of six colors is $42.

I am making my way through the shelf of wet facial cleansing cloths at the drugstore. Yesterday I reported on my experience with the Pond's Clean Sweep Cleansing Towelettes, which I found pretty good for my purposes. Olay Daily Facials might be the one that actually started the whole thing for me way back when. It actually started with their original cleansing cloths, which are dry, but lather when you add water (which were perfect when air travel rules were such that we couldn't carry any liquid on board).

Olay's Daily Facials Express work to get most makeup off, but like some reviewers at Drugstore.com, I found that the cloths didn't do a very good job with my waterproof mascara. I always ended up having to scrub pretty hard with the cloths around my eyes, which left them red and slightly sore.

I am addicted, y'all. Facial cleansing cloths are fast becoming a strange obsession for me. Not only are they convenient when I get home late at night and am too tired to go through the hair-do of an entire evening beauty routine, but for some reason, the fact that they are usually textured makes me feel like I am really scrubbing everything off my face.

Just about every drugstore skincare line has one, and some even have multiple types. Over the past few months, I've been trying different drugstore brands to see which one works best for me. Pond's Clean Sweep has a textured towelette, which I like (for the reason stated above), a fairly fresh scent, and does a good job of removing makeup and dirt. The only complaint I have of it is that it does seem a tad "soapy" - sometimes I feel like I actually do have to go to the trouble of turning on the faucet and rinsing the cleanser off.

At just $4.80 for a pack of 30, I'd definitely keep using them.

Salon products -- the ones that actually work -- often cost in upwards of $15, and that can be a high price to pay for great hair when you're on a limited budget. But that's why Burt's Bees Pomegranate and Soy Very Volumizing Conditioner feels like such an awesome deal.

First off, the conditioner works incredibly well. The pomegranate extract -- which happens to smell amazing -- adds light moisture while sugar ester and honey condition your locks with a natural humectant. Toss in some soy amino acids for lift and body, and result is soft, shiny and voluminous hair.

The best part? It's only $8, baby!