Blog Posts by Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

Clearly, Lauren Conrad has picked up where Marcia Brady left off as a shiny, healthy hair icon (if nothing else). Her mile-long mane just embodies everything about California-style wellness, and this pic alone makes me want to grab the nearest scissors, lop off my dead ends, or (and this is the saner option), race to the hair-care aisle for the strongest treatments on the market. Here, my picks for the products that should be kept in your hair rehab kit:

Aussie Three Minute Hair Miracle. It takes a lot of chutzpah for a company to promise a miracle, let alone in minutes. But because this deep-conditioning treatment really does make your hair soft in a flash, I'm sure the head honchos go to sleep with a clear conscience.

Infusium 23 Conditioners. This stuff is OLD SCHOOL, but there's a reason it's been around so long: It works. In the '80s, a nightly douse of Infusium 23 conditioner helped me smooth out my perm in the '80s, in the '90s it rescued my flat-ironed mess, and

The Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) Beauty Awards are a big deal. Big beauty execs pile into the Waldorf Astoria to toast their favorite beauty products of the year. The beauty biz can be subjective, so I don't always agree with each honored mascara, defrizzer, and lip gloss. But a few of the CEW winners are my favorites, too:

L'Oréal Paris Infallible Never Fail Lip Color. The only way they could get this glossy lip color to stay on a moment longer would have been to put Crazy Glue in it. This stuff lasts through the whole night. Beyoncé wasn't lying on those commercials.

Estée Lauder Multi Protection Sun Towelettes. Any time a company makes sun protection convenient, it deserves an A for effort. These handy towelettes are happy news for those who can't be bothered with messy creams and clunky bottles.

Johnson's Softoil Melt Away Stress Massaging Moisturizer. At last, a baby oil-infused product that won't leave grease stains on my sheets, or leave my doorknobs feeling as if

I used to think that neutral makeup always won "Best Supporting Color" to bright lips or eyes. But I've learned to appreciate the value of a great neutral.

For example, take Kitten. Introduced in 2003, Stila's best-selling champagne shadow instantly became essential for so many women. Its sheen prevents it from being blah, and because it's pale, you don't have to be precise as a surgeon to apply the stuff. (No one will notice if you're a wee bit sloppy.) Just sweep the shadow over your lid-or under or a little to the side, who cares-and be done with it. Instantly, you look better than you did before. But not overly done.

Whether or not this Kitten business is news to you or not, get ready for a treat: Stila just came out with a Silk Shimmer Gloss and Eye Shadow Wash in the famed shade.

The gloss has silk proteins in it that make it feel absolutely smooth on your lips, and the golden-pink shade just makes them look healthy. (This gloss is especially great if you're rocking

You know those gradual self-tanning lotions that everyone's slathering on these days? They're amazing.

The ones I've tried really do make good on their promise of giving you a sun-kissed hue in just days: Even this ghostly girl had a glow.

But now some companies are trying to top this already impressive technology by adding pretty bells and whistles. Case in point: Victoria's Secret Beauty Gleaming Self-Tan Body Tint.

While VSB's silky formula does the whole time-released tint thing, it also leaves skin highlighted and looking supermodelish with extracts of pearl.

I admit, I get a little scared when I'm face to face with a body shimmer-I've sat on way too many black couches and car seats to know that glittery body products don't win you many friends-but this stuff stays put, like a second skin.

Truth be told, it kind of makes me feel like a sexy, shimmery VS model.

Standing in line at Starbucks the other day, I watched as a group of young women in business attire-clearly on their 4 P.M. break-argued about who would get laid off next while ordering $5 iced coffees. Uh-oh....

With that in mind, I'm not sure how much more time I have to write a post like the one I'm about to, so let's do this, kids: Here, five really expensive products you can splurge on and never, ever look back.

Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum ($80). I bought this vanilla-licorice-and-violet scent over a decade ago, and I remember how happily I handed over a fistful of hard cash to the nice lady at Nordstrom. (I was really young and waitressing.) At the time, the $80 was more money I'd ever spent on a beauty product. Though I no longer wait tables, if push came to shove, I probably would to support my Lolita habit. It's THAT good.

Kanebo Sensai Premier Eye Cream ($320). I'm the first one to admit that sometimes, expensive products don't feel particularly pricey, and other

Nice surprise from Laurie Coleman, the wife of Minnesota's Republican senator Norm Coleman. Instead of making The Washington Post alongside a philandering husband or some other scandal, there she is, pictured with a killer blowout and talking about her beauty invention, the Blo & Go. (OK, so she once was in the same paper pouting while wearing a corset and garter, but she was promoting her acting career at the time. Moving along....) Blo & Go is a hands-free hair-drying system that cradles the handle of your blow dryer and mounts it on any flat surface, such as a mirror, so that you don't have to hold the heavy thing for 20 minutes straight. The point of this, obviously, it to avoid the strain and awkward posing that comes from trying to mimic a salon-quality blowout. Why didn't someone think of this sooner?

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Ever since I saw Patricia Arquette in her pink leopard print capri leggings in True Romance-a brilliant fashion moment-the idea of pink leopard anything both frightens and tempts me.

So when I got wind that the flashy L.A. makeup brand Too Faced made a Pink Leopard Bronzer, I just had to see it.

I did, and I'm still not over it-it's fabulous. (Really fabulous, not "fabulous" in the overused way. I don't do that.)

This whopper of a bronzer comes in a surprisingly heavy, hot pink compact which has a little drawer with a ribbon pull tab (how cute) that hides a white-bristled brush to apply the stuff with. (It's like a portable vanity!)

The actual pan of bronzer is done up in a leopard print, created by a combination of gilded pink, golden tan, and soft brown powders. Use the brush to sweep the powder over your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, across the top of your forehead, and even a little on your chin. You can use the colors separated, or swirl them together.

Tina Fey had me at Mean Girls, but now with Baby Mama (co-starring the also hysterical Amy Poehler), she, along with Hollywood's other big comediennes, are getting major attention normally reserved for the Chapelles, Ferrells, Seinfelds, and Rocks of the world.

So why is the funny girl finally having her day? I wouldn't want to plagiarize the explanations of the excellent Alessandra Stanley in her recent piece for Vanity Fair, "Who Says Women Aren't Funny?"-she makes several good cases for why we're laughing now-but I will extract her point about how much these funny ladies' all have one major thing going for them: They're not ugly. In fact, they're just the opposite.

I can think of more than a few male comedians who hardly have the face of a matinee idol yet STILL are wildly successful, but I can count the women who are witty but not pretty on one hand.

What do you think? Is there an unfair double standard when it comes to being funny?

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