Although I swear by my tinted moisturizer, by the middle of summer I don't really need the color boost. So for the past four weeks, I've been trying out L'Oreal's Collagen Moisture Filler Day Lotion (it's not tinted) and can I just say? LOVE. I love it. Love how it goes on, love how it doesn't smell like anything, love that it actually seems to do what it says it will. Here's my report:

The Product: A lightweight, silky, non-greasy, non-smelly (ugh, how I hate most scents) moisturizer that goes on smoothly and absorbs quickly. Perfect for sticky summer mornings, especially since it has SPF15 sunscreen.

The Process: Easy as pie. I smooth on the moisturizer right after my shower and that's that. Makeup goes on very easily over it.

Notice Anything Different? You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but: YES. I swear, I think the appearance of fine lines around my eyes has subtly diminished. And that's pretty amazing, and I'm generally not too delusional about this stuff.

The Verdict: Adore it. Would definitely buy it. (Especially this week, at CVS.com, where it's 20% off!)

Just got back from the BlogHer 2009 conference in Chicago and I'm still processing everything I saw and learned. (For those who don't know, BlogHer is a major organization that unites women bloggers online and off.) Yes, the many speakers at the conference were informative and impressive, but even better was the ability to really connect, face to face. Everyone's smiling, friendly, and encouraging. Everyone "gets it".

Here's an extremely abbreviated list of people/sites I encountered:

Fussy, A terrific writer who also does the enchanting yogabeans.com, "your internet source for plastic action figures demonstrating ashtanga yoga." She emceed the keynote address.

HerBadMother She reduced 1,000+ women to tears at the keynote with this post. I mean sobs, people.

ShutterSisters Wonderful women who take amazing photos. Check out their Picture Hope project.

MyBrownBaby From the great Denene Millner, one of Parenting's contributing editors, a mommy blog filtered through the lens of the African American experience.

Amalah Such a fun, real writer. She brought her delicious baby, Ezra, along for the ride.

AskPatty Car care and purchase advice by/for women. CEO Jody DeVere was fascinating.

TheMotherTongue She loves sci-fi, Brussels sprouts, arguing politics, and talking too much.

Cutiebootycakes, A sassy mom who makes and sells diaper cakes. I just love the blog name.

Of course, the blogging universe is huge, and that list is pathetically short compared to volume of business cards I collected from writers. I love finding great blogs, though, so I'm going to plough through 'em all. Chime in, please! Who's your favorite blogger? (Beside Dooce – we all know and love her already.)

For me, the word "foundation" conjures up an image from my teenage years: a vision of thick, sticky fluid applied with a sponge. Girls who used foundation always seemed to have an orange line right at their jaw bone where the makeup ended and their real skin tone began. I steered clear of foundation for a long time.

Years passed. Now I no longer have the arrogance, or skin, of a teenager, and I wouldn't mind a little help evening out my blotchiness -- especially since I'm seen almost exclusively under fluorescent light every day. Help me, Avon Pure Minerals.

The product: This time around, I'm trying out a few things from a product line. Avon Pure Minerals is a suite of cosmetics made with (duh) minerals, all in clean, chic, low-key packaging. I tried the foundation in Light Beige, the blush in Perfect Plum, and the eyeshadow in Golden Moss. (The collection includes lipstick and eyeliner, but I didn't try those.)

The process: All the products I tried were loose powders packed in pots with little sifter trays at the top. You shake a teeny bit of powder into the tray, swirl it around with the appropriate brush, and then tap off excess powder before applying to your face.

I started with the foundation, which I swirled onto my brush, and then onto my face. (There's a lot of swirling in the world of mineral makeup, which is actually pretty fun.) The foundation color was subtle and when I was done, there wasn't even a hint of that orange foundation line I remember from teenagehood. Just a smooth, matte face ready for whatever I was going to do to it. Which happened to be applying my mineral blush in Perfect Plum, which I also swirled on, but with a lighter hand. Not light enough, though. The trick with mineral makeup, I find, is that you have to tap really vigorously once you've loaded your brush, or else you're going to end up with more color than you bargained for. Applying the eye shadow was pretty much a no-brainer; just load the eye shadow brush and go. Golden Moss, my color of choice, was a pretty, shimmery neutral that I liked as an all-over lid color.

The powders I tried were all smooth and feather-light. And it's not hard to do it right. After that one vivid blush misfire, I had the technique down.

So, notice anything different? A number of colleagues commented: "Matte." "Clean." "Fresh." "Not as dewy as your normal look." (Read:"You look less sweaty than usual today" – not a bad thing.) So, a uniformly positive response.

The verdict: A makeup collection that's easy, clean, comes in real-life shades, looks good, and is actually difficult to screw up? Total keeper. With summer officially here, it'll be nice to be able to control my "dewiness" – when the sun finally re-emerges and the temps go over 75 degrees.

Ever since becoming a mom (actually, since getting pregnant), and developing the concomitant exhaustion, I've forged a whole new relationship with my beauty products. Pre-baby, I'd roll out the door without any makeup, unthinking, carefree. Those days are over. Now, on some sleep-deprived mornings, I feel like my tinted moisturizer is the only thing that hoodwinks the rest of the world into thinking I'm alert.

So, like many moms, I my products. But how can I tell if a product is really working for me? I'm inherently biased, right? Does my bronzer actually make me look energized and glowing, or just orange? I need an outside observer. When I discussed this with Editor-at-Large Stephanie Dolgoff (read some of her articles here) she told me about the "Notice anything different?" game she plays with her family whenever she tries something new. Great idea, and just what I need -- but since my husband responds to this query like a deer in the headlights, I'm going to ask my girlfriends the loaded question whenever possible.

So, first item to be tested: Benefit's Brows A-Go-Go

The product: An adorable case fitted out with brow wax, brow powder, liner, brow highlighter, eyebright cream, brushes, and a teeny tiny tweezers.

The process: This little kit comes with instructions, which I attempted to follow to the letter. I duly brushed on the wax and the powder, tweezed, lined, highlighted my brow and dabbed on the pinky eye-bright at the corners of my eyes. I've never used eyebrow wax before, and I found it most useful in taming my brows. The brow powder smoothed on easily with the appropriate brush, and the tweezers are good and sharp. The eyeliner glided across my lids, and the highlighter and eyebright are pretty much foolproof.

So, notice anything different? Unfortunately, I was a little too enthusiastic with the powder ended up looking a little like Groucho Marx. When I asked my husband if he noticed anything different, he told me "You look crazy."

The verdict: Despite my lack of finesse, I adored the whole thing. The kit is so cute and so perfectly complete, I'm going to give it another shot tonight -- with a much lighter hand. And the price is nice: $38 (suggested retail) for the whole shebang. A little bit of a splurge, but worth it for the range of products and implements. It'll be available in August this year.

Sometimes I have something clever to say, and sometimes a product just speaks for itself.

From the manufacturer: "Poo-Pourri Jr., from the makers of the popular Poo-Pourri adult spray, eliminates the source of odor causing bacteria and uses a secret formula that safely and effectively traps and diffuses odors in cloth and plastic diapers, leaving your home fresh and clean." The idea is to spray stinky diapers (NOT your child’s bottom) before throwing them away.

$12.96 for a 4-ounce bottle, $19.95 for 8 ounces. Discuss.