If you’re ever looking for The Beauty Bug, chances are you’ll find Her at the nearest CVS, Walgreens or Wholefoods combing the beauty and skincare aisles for the latest and greatest. They don’t call Her the queen bee of the ExtraBucks for nothing. Here are Her latest favorite finds:

Pacifica Color Quench Lip Tint – $6.99: One swipe of this tint, and you’ll catch yourself  repeatedly puckering your lips (like, all day) just to get another whiff. It smells that good. The Beauty Bug’s favorite, hands down, is guava berry. Other flavors include Blood Orange, Coconut Nectar, Sugared Fig and Vanilla Hibiscus. The sticks glaze and moisturize lips with just a peek of color. They contain Vitamin E, cocoa butter, coconut oil and avocado.

JĀSÖN® C-Effects Pure Natural Super-C Cleanser - $8.89: This JĀSÖN® C-Effects cleanser is a fooler. It has the look, feel AND ingredients (unique anti-aging ingredients) often found in high-priced products, but it’s only about $9. The formula is powered by a multi-antioxidant complex of Ester-C®, Vitamin C and Vitamin E that fights free radical damage that contributes to fine lines, wrinkles and uneven skin tone.  JĀSÖN actually means ‘healer’ in Greek. It’s gentle, refreshing, easily removes makeup and dirt and smells like you’re schmearing a juicy orange creamsicle float all over your face. The line is available at natural food stores and Whole Foods markets, and Mr. Jason, if you’re reading this – add a mask to your line!

Maybelline Dream Sun Bronzer – $8.99: There’s nothing better than bronzer and contouring done right! The best thing about these beauties  - all the choices. There’s the Four Seasons Powder, a subtly gradated compact, the Bronzing Powder Matte,  an aptly named matte powder, and the Bronzing Powder Glow, The Beauty Bug’s favorite which offers a soft touch of shimmer ideal for cheekbones and brow bones. All are available in light and medium.  Those with a heavy hand need not apply.

L’Oreal Miss Pixie Colour Riche Nail Polish – $6.49:  Those two dreaded words – limited edition. If you’re still at your computer and haven’t abruptly left to buy one of these babies – what is wrong with you? From the Miss Candy Gellie Collection, the shades are shiny and slick, with a slight see-through quality to then – just like hard candy.  Different from regular polishes, the coverage is buildable an some may opt for 3 coats. The Beauty Bug wants candy!

Flower Lip Butter in Sheer Snapdragon – $6.98:  When the Flower line was first launched, The Beauty Bug was trolling all local Walmarts waiting for the displays to pop-up. This Sheer Snapdragon Lip butter is near perfect. The pinky-nude color is flattering on any skin-tone and perks up every  complexion. The non-tacky formula has a buttery-soft texture that glides on easily, and the color-payoff is solid. One word to the wise – save the peel-off label with the barcode on it – it’s the only place where the name of the Lip Butter is printed! You’ll need the name if you want to re-purchase the color.

Aveeno Protect + Hydrate Sunscreen Collection – $9.99:  Two words – game changer. Why, you ask? Because this is a sunscreen that doesn’t smell like a sunscreen. The new Aveeno line a new helps to reverse skin dehydration caused by sun, chlorine, sweat and salt water. The Beauty Bug recently vacationed in St. Maarten and brought both the SPF 50 and the SPF 70 with Her (for those that don’t know – you can just call The Beauty Bug Casper). She bathed in them everyday, never felt greasy or oily, and came home totally burn-free and safe. A must-have for your beach bag.

In the past month, The Beauty Bug has traveled to Florida, St. Maarten and San Francisco. Here are some snapshots from Her travels.

1. Aloha Beach Bar, Orient Beach, St Maarten

2. The view from our balcony at sunset.

3. 3 little dogs, Calmos Cafe, Grand Case, St. Maarten

4. The Beauty Bug (sans makeup!?) and Her Husband

5. Lizard on Dawn Beach, St Maarten

6. A masseuses’ sign (boasting that she graduated from a famous school), Orient Beach, St. Maarten 

7. A Caribbean lobster

8. Matching thongs, Orient Beach, St. Maarten

In preparation for Her vacation, The Beauty Bug opted for a half-moon manicure – something to show off Her tips while toasting mud slide after mud slide. See the series of photos below to see the step-by-step process of Her half-moon manicure.

Overwhelmed by the vast array of skincare offerings and of-the-moment ingredients, they embarked on a mission to simplify skincare. And so, POE (Purity of Elements) was born.

The paraben-free line is packed with pure minerals, antioxidants, botanicals and other super-charged ingredients including copper, zinc, algae, avocado, pomegranate, ginger root, pumpkin, ginko biloba and a special tea and berry blend. POE reflects its founders’ holistic approach to beauty and is rooted in the philosophy that balanced skin is a reflection of a balanced life.

The Beauty Bug has long written about Her love of washing Her face; coming home and washing away all the stresses of the day. Instant satisfaction via a face wash or cleanser. Yes, that’s a lot of pressure to put on one product – to wash away the angst of any given day – but, POE’s Daily Purifying Polish kills it. One whiff, and it will make sense. You’ll want to schmear it all over your face too (it smells like a creamsicle). The cleanser is packed with antioxidant tea and a blend of berries, making almost good enough to eat but even more delicious to smell. The exfoliating micro-beads help to gently sweep away dead surface skin cells, leaving skin soft, smooth and healthy. Key ingredients include Jojoba Oil (restores skins natural lipid barrier), Mandarin Orange Peel extract (anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-bacterial), Soybean Germ extract, and Vitamin E. It’s mild, yet effective, and calms and clarifies. The polish feels great on skin and can be used everyday. Call on the power of the micro-beads to combat flakiness, exfoliate and freshen skin, or just when you need that clean fresh-feeling fix, as The Beauty Bug often does.

POE Daily Purifying Polish is available at purityofelements.com for $32.

BAKING BEAUTIES - available April 18th

Cupcakes, macarons and icing, oh my! This delicious pastel collection is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth with it’s cupcake patterned face powders, lustre drops and the aptly named lipsticks – devil’s food cake and raspberry swirl.

FASHION SETS - available April 4th

The bold and the beautiful, and no, The Beauty Bug isn’t referring to the soap opera.  Fashion Sets features four distinct color families/sets all containing bright shades that pop with a vivid edge. Very, pop-art of MAC, yes?

IN EXTRA DIMENSION  - available April 4th

Seeing double never looked so good – these creamy, silky shadows, blushes and face powders are mega. They sculpt, highlight and define. The collection is one The Beauty Bug’s favorite. The formulas are flawless – creamy and near-fluid  - and they leave a smooth, second-skin finish. Perfection.

Because the weekends are for relaxing and recharging, The Beauty Bug will review a mask every Friday. Sit back, relax, put your feet up, run a bath, light the candle and slather away!

In anticipation of Her upcoming travels to Florida and St. Maarten, The Beauty Bug is dreaming of beaches, palm trees, tropical fruity drinks and …algae. Yes, algae. If you want to get technical, algae is a large group of simple nonflowering plants containing chlorophyll but lacking true stems, roots, leaves, and vascular tissue.  But to The Beauty Bug, the certified organic seaweed that She’s schmearing all over Her face is a dream exfoliant and brightener. She’s had algae on the mind after using OSEA (Ocean Sun Earth Atmosphere) Skincare’s Black Algae Mask 2 times over the past 2 weeks. The potent exfoliating treatment clarified Her skin and eliminated dead surface skin cells in a matter of minutes, certainly living up to its promise.

Ingredients include pure fig extract (extract eliminate surface dead skin cells and stimulate circulation), black marine silt, malic acid (targets wrinkles, fine lines and a dull complexion) and micro black jojoba spheres. The fun begins after about 10 minutes, when the mask dries and is ready to be washed off. The Beauty Bug wet Her fingers and gently massaged the mask off Her face, revealing a baby pink glow from stimulated circulation. Skin was soft and fresh. After Her first application, the glow as more pronounced as compared to Her second, but skin was equally smooth and bright!

The OSEA Black Algea Mask is available at OseaMalibu.com for $48. 

Then, The Beauty Bug tried MAC’s new Mineralize Moisture SPF15 Foundation. And She knows what you’re thinking, but, no, She didn’t take back everything that She’s ever said about mineral makeup. No way. But, She can confidently says that this product is the exception to the rule. One word really describes it well – lush. Unlike other mineral products, it’s lightweight yet uniquely creamy and that’s what drew The Beauty Bug to the product. It’s a fooler. And because it’s stacked with minerals, that means it feeds skin all day with nourishing hydration with its Shea Butter, emollients and conditioning extracts.

Best suited for dry skin, Mineralize’s coverage is beautifully buildable. The Beauty Bug prefers medium coverage so She uses Her MAC 130 Short Duo Fibre brush and blends until Her heart’s content and Her skin’s tone is even. And not to threaten David Copperfield, but its combination of powders create an optical blurring effect that virtually diminish imperfections.

Of course The Beauty Bug and Her palest of pale complexions uses NC15, but the shades range from the aforementioned Casper the friendly Beauty Bug shade all the way up to NW50.

The MAC Mineralize Moisture SPF Foundation is available on maccosmetics.com and at MAC counters for $33. 

Products The Beauty Bug discussed in the video include:

By Terry Hyraluranic Sheer Rouge

Make Up For Ever Technicolor Paletter

Marrakesh Exotic Beauty Face Mosaics

Marrakesh Exotic Hues Eye Shadow Trio

Gloss Gorgeous Stay-On Stain in Spicy

Escape to exotic Marrakesh with mark.’s new collection launching in May. The Exotic Beauty Face Mosaics illuminate skin for a subtle, entrancing glow. The Beauty Bug loves it’s silky feel  and smooth application. The eye shadow powders are bold, rich and high-pigmented. Finish the look with the Gloss Gorgeous Stay-On Stain in Spicy – it’s applies like a high-gloss shine, wears down to a stain and is peppermint scented.

The Marrakesh Collection will be available at meetmark.com in May.