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he holiday shopping season is here. Television, radio and internet commercials are laden with the things we “must-have”, people are battling for parking spots, and everyone is trying to save money (myself included).

So this week’s Bionic Asks… Will you be buying any beauty-related for loved ones this holiday season? Or do you think its better to give them gift cards to buy the cosmetic goodies they prefer?

I’m planning on buying close family some small items like my favorite Herbaria soaps and sampler makeup packs. To round it out, I am doing a “homemade holiday” this year. My family and friends are getting loaves of my famous banana bread, personalized journals, and woven collars for their pets. In summary, I guess I’m doing a mix – a bit of beauty goodies and a bit of personal hand made stuff.

However, if I wanted to buy a beauty-related present for someone who I didn’t know very well, I would definitely go the gift card route. Better to let them pick exactly what they want than not use something or have to return it.

This week’s Bionic Asks… What are your favorite online beauty shopping websites?

Do you shop directly at the major online makeup and skin care websites such as the Amazon Beauty department, Beauty.com, drugstore.com, or Sephora.com? Or do you go straight to a particular brand website?

Typically I perform a Google search for a particular item and price shop through the search engine for the best savings.

However, if I’m buying an indie beauty product, which is about 80% of the time, then I head right to their website. I enjoy supporting the indie brands much more than the larger, mainstream brands that spend a gazillion bucks on marketing and usually have lackluster customer service.

So go ahead… list your favorite online beauty shopping sites below!

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is the season to reflect on what is most important in our lives, what has changed us, and that which has forced us (good, bad or otherwise) to grow. There’s really too much for me to list in an article, and not bore you all to a tryptophan-coma, so here is my tippy-top “I’m Thankful” list…

For scenery such as this... and experiencing it with the most important people (and dogs) in my life.

My dream Bionic-land: Mountains, trees, trails, wildlife and cabins.

My Willie Woo. I’m glad he’s never stopped woo’ing (or blogging) and has stubbornly refused to grow out of his puppy-hood!

My Wilfred Orvill Oliveira (aka Woo) - Three years old, and yet stuck at six months!

Woo’s new best friend and my second favorite dog in the world, Sylvia McFroggus. Thanks for the girl time, chica!

Nothing perks you up more than dog hugs and bunny ears!

My sister (y’all know her as Joycey Couture), my parents, my grandmom and the rest of my family unit.

An impromptu performance with Elvis (notice I'm not singing).

To all my online, blogging, and twitter friends: Kelly Gould (blogger extraordinaire and fellow Klutz Klub member), Robyn B. (from Purely Cosmetics and another Klutz Klub gal), “fried madness“ Mo, Tashi, Erin (the famed Cheap Chick), Stacy W., Robyn (in snakeless Hawaii), Paula (muy excellente blogger), the mysterious and incognito WidelyRed, Kimberley and Darrell (from YBF Skincare), Stacey (from Lexli), and Micheal (from Jeune D’Age Organics). Thanks for sticking with me through thick, thin, endless emails, twitter rants, and all the other drivel. You’ve picked me up more times than you realize.

Last and certainly not least- I am thankful for the person who made this the best year of my life. Even snake bites and my beloved computer dieing (RIP Phoenix – you’ll rise again!), could not alter my happiness. Everything changed last November and I’ve been floating beyond cloud nine since. Thank you for coffee, books, movies, geeking out, dropped walls, and having my back.

With tomorrow being laden with cooking, family, friends, and hopefully a bit of relaxation; take some time today to think back on the year. What, and who, makes you say a big “Thank You”?

Have a Bionic Thanksgiving!

I’m heading to a midnight showing of Harry Potter at midnight tonight. In costume, of course! This year I’ll be dressing up as Ginny Weasley thanks to my newly-dyed red hair.

My "Ginny Weasley" costume for the Harry Potter Book 7 midnight release party!

Will you be seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows tonight or in the coming weeks? Or is there another movie on your radar that you can’t wait to see this Thanksgiving season?

Stay Bionic,

P.S. Last year for the Half Blood Prince, I did an entire Harry Potter themed manicure and pedicure!

This week’s Bionic Asks… Do you ever match your nail polish to your dress?
This weekend I am attending a semi-fancy dinner reception. Since most of my dresses were either formal, or had a Spring season feel (pale yellows or bright polka dots), I decided to take an older dress and alter it to suit the occasion. This dress is a dark, dark navy blue topped with semi-matte sequins. The toned-down sequins make it easier to wear and less blingy for this not-so-formal event.

A nail polish adventure in Bionic-land: I attempt to match my pedicure to my matte sequined dress.

And now onto the beauty portion…

I’ve decided that I want at least my toes to match the dress. I dug through my nail polish stash to find Sally Hansen Salon “After Midnight”. After Midnight is a dark navy, almost black with a hint of sparkle. To add a my own “sequins” to the polish, I then applied CND’s Sapphire Sparkle. The pedicure is finished with my favorite matte top coat by Rescue Beauty Lounge.

The results of my nail polish experiment!

I considered going with a deep berry or classic red on my toes, but I tend to prefer dark and “different” colors. I grew up wearing reds and pinks- so now I usually gravitate to blues, greens, silvers and vampy almost-blacks. I still may wear a berry color on my nails for a splash of brighter color.

Have you ever matched your nail polish to your clothes? I know some of you may like this, and others won’t. Feel free to share your opinions, but please remember no bashing or rude comments. Part of being a Bionic Beauty means that even through the anonymity of the internet we treat each other with respect.

Also, feel free to share your suggestions for what color I should paint my fingernails. Clear? Clear with holographic sparkles? The aforementioned berry or a classic red? Or something else all together?

Stay Bionic,

This week’s Bionic Asks… What are your favorite beauty blogs?

Out of the wide wonders of the blogosphere, which beauty and makeup blogs do you read on a daily basis? How did you find your favorites?

Unfortunately, I don’t make it to my favorite blogs everyday, but I do visit them weekly and catch up on articles by email at the end of the day. My “best of” list is basically the Bionic Beauty blogroll. And after you all share your fave blogs below, I can hopefully expand my blogroll with some new sites!

This week’s Bionic Asks… What body wash are you currently using?

My shower is currently stocked with these well-tested and very Bionically-loved favorites:

1. Honeycat Cosmetics “Grooming Day” Coquito Bubble Stuff - This is designed to be a bubble bath, but it works nicely as a body wash too! The scents hint at honey, coconut, rum… pretty much like a cocktail hour in your shower. I am trying more and more of Honeycat’s products and am loving them all. This is definitely a cute, and functional, indie brand to check out! $17 for an 8 oz bottle, or $25 for a 16 ounce bottle at HonecatCosmetics.com.

2. Suave Naturals Mango Mandarin - This satisfies my love of tropical scents. It perks me up in the morning but even more important- it leaves my skin free of residue, softly scented, and clean without stripping out all my natural oils. Plus you can find it at pretty much every drugstore for a few bucks (it’s $3.49 at drugstore.com)!

3. Nature’s Gate Body Wash in Papaya - It comes in a nifty pump bottle with lots of product, smells wonderful and suds’ up quickly. Again, you can see my love of tropical type scents coming out. Again you should be able to find this in your local drugstores or for $7.49 at drugstore.com.

What are you scrubbing up with?

This week’s Bionic Asks… Have you already started planning, or decided upon, your Halloween makeup?

Are you dressing up this year? I am!

Since Halloween is my favorite holiday, I dress up regardless of lack of trick-or-treaters, parties to attend, or whatever. I always dress up on Halloween. Sometimes I spend it watching spooky movies and eating my favorite candies; other times I am with friends at a local haunted house. Wherever or whatever I am doing though, you can bet that I’ve planned my makeup look way in advance.

One of my Halloween makeup looks from 2009, as a Hogwarts school-age Tonks (from Harry Potter).

If you need inspiration on some easy-to-do Halloween makeup ideas, be sure to check out my entire Halloween series! The articles cover everything from nail polish, makeup videos, tutorials, and even special edition body care products!

Have a wonderfully spooky October!

This week’s Bionic Asks… How do you remove your eye, lip, and face makeup?

I still use my homemade eye makeup remover – just a few quick swipes over my eyes. I also use this homemade mixture if I’ve got one of those “long wear” lip colors on. Those can be tough to remove and rather than scrubbing my lips raw- the oils in my mix lift the color away easily.

Then I wash my face really well with plain water and a soft microfiber cloth. Next I follow with my normal face wash (my go-to standard is Lexli’s Cleansing Lotion).

So what’s your makeup removal technique?

This week’s Bionic Asks… What is your special occasion, dress-up or date-night hair style? Do you reserve certain styling products and appliances for those days? And how much time do you set aside to get your locks in shape for a big night out?

Personally, I usually end up flat ironing my hair after applying a light layer of Hana Shine Serum. Once my hair is laying sleek and straight, I apply some AG Split End Spa or other creamy-textured “conditioning” hair serum type of product to the keep the ends of my hair from frizzing. Then I mist over it all with a shine spray (I use YY’s Shiny Me Sweetgum spray).

Alternatively, I sometimes do pretty much the same, but use my flat iron to add some light waves throughout my hair, then mist it with a Sea/Beach spray (here are some previous reviews or just make your own!).