i am not a makeup guru.

I wear eyeliner and mascara. And in ode to Rebek, I curl my eyelashes. That's the extent of my beauty (haha, beauty) regime. Well, and lotion. Also, I am cheap whenever possible, unless I'm treating myself to life's small pleasures (which now involves the London Fog Tazo tea latte at Starbucks, soy please, no syrup-- actually, it's delicious and I want everyone to experience it so go treat yourself with your Starbucks card you got for Christmas). And speaking of cheap, I bought cheap eyeliner on my last Target makeup run. I got two crayon-pencils for less than the price of one twisty. And then was sorely disappointed when I tried it and had to rub so hard to get any on there. Aargh. My cheap tactics failed! So I complained at work, and Ana, student assistant, told me her trick, which I now share with you all: a lighter! Sharpen pencil as desired, put a lighter under it for a few seconds and move the pencil back and forth. It gets soft, and after you cool it for a few more seconds (if you don't a chunk of eyeliner blobs off) it works like a $10 liner. Or however expensive expensive eyeliners are. I wouldn't know because I shop for makeup at Target.