Sarah, Tina and Amy are Your Favorite April Cover Girls!

I've been slacking off these days - just realized I never posted the results of the favorite April cover vote! Well, the winner's really no surprise...once again, Vanity Fair has won the majority of your votes! The Funny Girls cover featuring Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler finished with 38.5% of your votes, far ahead of its competition.

Coming in second was new mama Salma Hayek with 16.8%, followed by the controversial Gisele/LeBron Vogue cover, with 15.1%.

Ageless Demi Moore grabbed 14.1% of your votes for a fourth place finish, and Kate Hudson trailed with 13.5%.

Not surprisingly, only 1.8% of you voted for that ghastly, over-photoshopped Allure cover featuring Mariah Carey (or, more accurately, a computer rendering of Mariah Carey).

May covers will be posted throughout the week...stay tuned!

Bronze Takes the Gold

I hate to say it, but I've been hideously bored by so many of this season's new beauty releases. I think that's part of what's been keeping me from blogging as fast-and-furiously as usual - aside from my day job, at least. I'm just not that excited about anything!

I searched my makeup bag for inspiration today, but nearly every product in there was something that's been in heavy rotation for quite a while now, or that's been blogged to death here at Beauty Addict (DuWop Revolotion Face, Urban Decay Primer Potion, Lancome Magique blush...you get the idea). I've just been in to old favorites these days.

With one exception.

Clinique Brush-on Cream Liner in Bronze ($14.50) is part of the Long-Last Bronze summer collection. I've written about the Brush-on Cream Liner before, but the new Bronze shade is most certainly worth a mention. The color is just gorgeous; it's bronze without looking too coppery, and it's brown without looking dirty. It has just a touch of shimmer; slightly dramatic, but still safe for work. And best of all, it does something absolutely incredible for blue eyes. This perfect shade of bronze makes blue peepers POP like no other!

Brush-on Cream Liner has a texture similar to MAC Fluidlines or Bobbi Brown gel liners but, as the name suggests, it's a little more on the creamy side. It blends easily, but when it sets...it stays there. I've been playing with it using both a skinny eyeliner brush (for precise application at the lashline) and a fat eyeshadow brush (for larger areas). I find that with the fat brush, I can easily blend it upward into the crease for a fab bronze smokey eye. A little touch of Stila Kitten on browbones and inner corners and you're set!

Bronze is a limited edition shade, so snap yours up now.

Beauty on the Road: Spice Up Your Smile

In my recent Beauty MacGyver post, I can't believe I forgot to mention one of my favorite little tricks - using a claw clip as a hairbrush. It's top-of-mind for me right now, as I'm in Atlanta for a conference and left my trusty brush home! My little clip did just fine until I had a chance to venture down to the gift shop for, um, an actual brush.

Anyhow, speaking of beauty on the road...

What seems like ages ago, I wrote about Breath Palette toothpastes, which come in some pretty nifty designer flavors (Fuji Apple, White Peach) and some truly awful ones (Indian Curry, Yogurt, Espresso). Bizarre, but kinda fun, no?

Now you can pick up Breath Palette Toothpaste & Mouthwash Kits ($22.50) which house 4 mini toothpastes and 4 single-serve mouthwashes in fab flavors (no curry or espresso, promise).

The petite size makes them perfect for overnighters and short trips. If you're tired of the usual mini-Crest and mini-Scope combo in your TSA-approved plastic baggie (I know I am), these are a great change of pace. The whimsical mini-mouthwashes alone are worth it; they look like single serve containers of half-and-half!

The Sweet Shoppe Kit comes with toothpaste in Vanilla, Bitter Chocolate, Caramel, Pumpkin Pudding and mouthwash in Raspberry, Sweet Almond, Sweet Potato, and Cola.

The Fruit Stand Kit gets you toothpaste in Tropical Pineapple, Fuji Apple, Strawberry, and White Peach, and mouthwash in Huckleberry, Blueberry, Melon, and Boysenberry.

And if you still have qualms about a chocolate-flavored toothpaste, consider this: the flavor is actually rather fleeting, and after you rinse you're left with just a bit of menthol aftertaste. So you get the fun flavor during the experience and "normal" toothpaste freshness afterward!

Watch Your Mouth!

If you've ever had a sunburn on your lips, this post is for you. It's the worst, isn't it? Even if you apply your regular sunscreen to your lips, you manage to lick or rub it off pretty quickly...and then you're left with an exposed kisser that burns faster than a bug under a magnifying glass.

Well, my fair-lipped friends, a new generation of SPF lippies has arrived to protect your pucker. If you're going to coat your lips in SPF, why not get some color and shine out of the deal?

My all-time favorite is Lancome Soleil Icy Tubes, but it's impossible to find (it occasionally pops up in the duty-free shops at various European airports, but I have a strong suspicion that it is now extinct). If you can't get your hands on that one, here are 5 fab options to keep your pout soft, shiny and protected:

Clinique Long Last Glosswear SPF15 is a new product this season, and I'm loving it. It's slightly thick but not sticky or goopy, and comes in an impressive 18 shades. My current favorite is the sheer grape-hued Mystic. Long Last Glosswear has a hint of "suntan lotion" smell in the tube, but I don't detect any once it's on my lips.

MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner Stick SPF 15 is also a newbie this season. The five shades are super-sheer and beach appropriate, and strobe pearl particles give it a little extra kick. My only quibble is that over-application sometimes results in a little bit of peeling by the end of the day.

Tarte 24/7 Lip Sheer SPF 15 looks like Chapstick in the tube, but come on, it's far more glamorous than that! In 9 shades ranging from sheer nude to deep berry, you can keep one in every purse...as long as you're willing to drop $14 on a lip balm, that is.

Stila shine lip color SPF 20. Remember the Marchesa show last season? It marked the debut of this new lip product from Stila, and now there are two shades - Georgina and Keren - named after the brand's founders. Extra bonus - you can't beat that always-adorable Stila packaging.

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Sheer Lip Tint SPF 15 is tied for 1st in the race for my favorite lippie of the five listed here (the other? Clinique!). The shade shown here is Bronze, but if you're looking for something a little daring that looks AMAZING with a tan, pick up the Fuchsia. It's sheer enough that it doesn't look garish, but it's a gorgeous, bright pop of color that looks absolutely smashing either at the beach or just shopping on a sunny day.

When Conditioners Don't Meet Their Match

Darlings, it's been far too long! I know I had promised to be back and blogging away last Monday, but the workweek ATTACKED rather fiercely. I usually have posts saved for this type of occasion but in all honesty, things got so busy that I ran out. Finally, it's Friday and I'll have a chance to pump out some fun new content. Bring on the weekend!

Thought for the day: shampoo/conditioner pairings. Why is it that some of the best shampoos have matching conditioners that are nothing short of awful?

I love Aveda Rosemary Mint shampoo, especially in the summer when that mintiness is so refreshing. But the conditioner? The first time I tried it, I thought someone had played a trick on me and replaced the contents with good old Elmer's Glue. Seriously! The Rosemary Mint conditioner has the consistency of everyone's favorite white school glue, and even has a faint gluey aroma. Though it was thin and slightly runny, I still couldn't manage to get all of it out of my hair, leaving a dull film that weighed down my locks.

The other offender on my list? Redken All Soft. The shampoo is fabulous, and it smells great. The conditioner, on the other hand, has a bizarrely strong alcohol smell, certainly not something I find desirable in a conditioner. And it does absolutely nothing for my hair. I used the last of my bottle today to shave my legs and won't be buying it again.

The thing is, I like my shampoo and conditioner to match, so having to sub out the conditioners drives me slightly batty. I blame this on my mother, who instructed me in the ways of matching in the first place. That's the answer to everything, right? Blame Mom!

What about you? Ever love one and hate the other? And as for the matching, tell me...

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