Jojoba of all trades.

You're looking at my new eye makeup remover and oil cleanser. Unlike other plant-derived oils, jojoba (pronounced ho-HOH-ba) oil is actually polyunsaturated liquid wax obtained from the seed of the jojoba shrub. As jojoba oil is chemically similar to human sebum, it is a popular ingredient in skin care products and is a non-comedogenic alternative to facial moisturizers.

Jojoba has been used Native Americans for hundreds of years to treat cuts and burns and as hair restoraratives. And so can the yuppies and the trust-fund hippies, thanks to the proliferation of organic health and beauty stores throughout cities. I bought this 4oz. bottle at Trader Joe's for USD6.00, but it's just as easily purchased online.

Five uses for your humble, politically-correct (vegan, cruelty free, economical) bottle of jojoba oil.

1. As pre-cleanser. Wet your hands and face before applying 4-5 drops of jojoba oil to your face. Massage the oil into your face for a couple of minutes and remove the oil with a warm , wet washcloth or by rinsing with water. Follow with a gentle cleanser of choice.

2. As eye makeup remover. Saturate a cotton pad with several drops of jojoba oil. Press the cotton pad against your eyes and gently swipe downwards towards the end of your lashes. It should remove everything, including waterproof mascara. As an added plus, the oil acts as a lash conditioner.

3. As facial moisturizer. Gently massage 2-3 drops into your damp face after cleansing. Jojoba oil will sit on your skin for a while as it takes some time to absorb. You may combine a jojoba oil with regular moisturizer or with drop of tea-tree oil. Although jojoba oil is non-comedogenic and mimics human sebum, results will vary. Follow up your jojoba oil moisturizer with a zit cream if you're worried, and just stop using it if it seems to exacerbate the situation. There is no such thing as a panacea for your skin woes.

4. As hair conditioner and detangler. Dab a little onto the ends of freshly shampooed hair before blowdrying and styling. You can also apply jojoba oil to your hair (ends or scalp, depending on your hair type) before proceeding to shampoo and condition as usual.

5. As body moisturizer. Massage jojoba oil into your legs and elbows, or combine a couple of drops with your favourite body lotion. A word of caution if you're planning to try it as a shaving oil -- the residue will accumulate and gunk up your razor.

To learn more about jojoba oil, click here.

Kim Kardashian's many make-up tips.

So Kim Kardashian's famous for... knowing famous people and hanging out with famous people. Whether or not you approve of her Jessica Rabbit style of dressing, you have to admit that she is quite easy on the eye even if you were to judge her from the neck up only. She has the smokey eye look down to a T and a list of her personal make-up tips can be found on her official website. Miss Kardashian is clearly no low-maintenance gal as her routine involves primer, two shades of foundation mixed together, two concealers and two powders. But in the video on the same page, she looks remarkably fresh-faced and young when she talks about toning down her make-up on her reality show as the season progresses. When you have youth and beauty on your side, less is really more.

So you want to be a beauty anarchist...

I don't believe our female ancestors had no beauty or health issues, but the environment today is far harsher on women. We live in polluted cities, we consume more processed foods when pressed for time, and we have higher stress levels because the co-worker blasts 90's hits from her computer to the entire office and nobody has the balls to stand up to her. Women have always been pressured to conform to certain beauty ideals, but the digital age and our increased spending power mean we are constantly bombarded with superfluous information. The same material and worn out cliches are repeated in magazines from month to month, year to year, only parcelled in a such a breathless manner to make us think that old is new and new must be bought immediately before it becomes old. Greek is the new ethnic is the new mod is the new navy is the new black. One year it's Botox, the next it's camel fat, but because it will give us skin of a newborn baby, it will cost a year's salary and a kidney.

Eventually, some of us revolt.

"[BLEEP] this shit!" they shout. "No more marketing doublespeak and false promises! I'm taking myself off the grid to a place where nobody will find me! I will bathe in fresh goat's milk every day and cleanse my face with extra virgin olive oil! I will use aspirin masks for breakouts and coconut oil as hair conditioner!"

"But," they say somewhat sheepishly, after the applause has died down, "what are we going to do about makeup? We do look better with a hint of blush on the apples of our cheeks and reddened lips."

I would fire up my laptop, launch Firefox and direct them to this article, and in particular this recipe for a lip stain:

Beetroot and glycerine cheek and lip tint

45g raw beetroot, grated

3 tablespoons vegetable glycerine

Put the beetroot and glycerine a heat-proof ceramic bowl over a pan of boiling water for 15 minutes. Cool, then strain into a sealable container. Shake before use, then apply a dab to your cheeks and lips.

I'd probably have to warn them against drinking the lavender deodorant though.

Eyelining for babies.

There isn't a single kohl pencil or gel liner in my entire makeup collection, and there hasn't been for years. My Cover Girl Line Exact dried out a couple of weeks ago, but even when it was still oozing ink, I hardly used it. I keep promising myself to get either a Bobbi Brown Long-Wear gel eyeliner or a Mac Fluidline, and I think this is the year that it may happen. But a little bit of liner goes a long way -- when applied correctly, it makes one's eyes look more awake and defined. Lacking proper liner, I use a liner brush and dark shadow to wedge in short strokes a thin line as close as possible to my lashes.

The effect is very subtle, but it's there. Behold, my lineless left eye (and forgive my scraggly brows, a trim is overdue):


A touch of neutral shimmer eyeshadow from my Bobbi Brown Stonewashed Nudes palette, and a teensy bit of black shadow liner from my Mac Smoke Signals palette, I'm ready to go stuff my face with the best Mexican food in town:

The entire lining process took about ten minutes which may seem like quite a lot, but I didn't want to clean up mistakes (more time wasted, increased blood pressure). Besides, I'd saved enough time by only applying one eyeshadow wash. I wet my eyeliner brush, dipped it in black eyeshadow, blotted it on a piece of tissue to minimize fallout, and drew a line in short strokes from the outer corner towards my tear duct. So, lining isn't all that difficult, and nobody has any reason to skip the liner with this technique. As for me, it's time to graduate to big girl liners.

Being Frugal

As a Dior Club member, I was given a tiny little gift on my birthday. And, when I say tiny, I really do mean tiny.

As I stared at the tiny little tube in my hands, I thought wryly to myself, "Is Dior being funny or sarcastic about giving me an anti-ageing eye cream as I get a year older?"

Yep, on one hand I was glad that I got another 2ml of the Capture R60/80 eye cream. On the other, I couldn't help but think of how apt or how "thoughtful" they were being.

Well, 2ml of eye cream is really not a lot but considering how little we use each time, I think 2ml was more than sufficient. Until I got tired of squeezing every tiny drop out. My fingers would hurt and I would struggle to balance between squeezing the tube and popping a finger to 'receive' the cream out from the tube. As much as I loved the hygiene that's presented with a squeeze-tube, I hate that it's so hard to not to waste expensive products like that.

So, I rooted around for a small clean travel-sized container I seem to have a lot of. I found one and proceeded to chop my tube of eye cream into 3 pieces. The tip, the middle part and the flat bit at the end. When I purchased the full-sized Dior eye cream, I was given a spoon as well. For the same hygienic purpose, I would presume. Using that spoon, I scooped every bit out from the 3 bits of the tube. It was highly-satisfying to see that not a single drop of product was wasted.

I repeated the same thing this evening with my trusty Olay Total Effects serum. However, this time, it was much, much harder. This is where your other half came in handy! Once again, I rooted around for yet another clean travel-sized container. And, I saw that it was the last travel-sized container I have. Thankfully, nothing is running out yet. Armed with his trusty Swiss army knife, he chopped the Olay bottle into half and once again, I scooped everything out.

With the eye cream, I think there was enough of product to last me for a good couple of months! Imagine how much product there is left in the tube had I just tossed it away! With the serum, it was good for another extra week at most, but, it's still a lot of product left behind!

For a change, I wish manufacturers would come up with bottles and tubes that would allow us to use up every single drop. It's not just that I'm a miser (yes, I can be when it comes to beauty products) but it's also, I think, the responsible thing to do.

Now, if only there was a way for me to open up my Olay Total Effects moisturizer!