Makeup brushes are one thing I have a hard time finding at discount stores. Well, I could find some. Finding ones that I’d actually want to use on my face is another story. Most of the time I buy brushes when I make a much-needed trek to the city, or I shop online. I was doing the latter when I spotted this fantastic kabuki brush from Tarte.

An inexpensive, well-shaped goat hair brush from a reputable brand that comes in a plum-colored faux-croc case? I must have this! I wish you could hear the way my voice got higher and higher in excitement when I uttered those words.

If you’re using mineral makeup or powder foundation, a decent kabuki brush is a must-have for even application. You can expect to pay around $30 for a good quality kabuki brush. Occasionally I’ve found cheaper ones that work, but most of the time the cheap ‘bukis are not shaped right, are uncomfortable in my hand, feel like sandpaper on my skin, or shed so many of those goat hairs onto my shirt that I’m afraid someone might mistake me for a goat-herder.

Tarte’s Glam On The Go kabuki brush is soft and dense, so it picks up makeup powder well and doesn’t feel scratchy against your face. At just under $30, it’s a great value, especially considering the sweet little travel case that comes with it.

You can find the Tarte On The Go kabuki brush (and adorable case in my favorite color!) at Sephora or on TarteCosmetics.com.

Physician’s Formula has a new Organic Wear line that includes the Natural Origin Loose Powder I’ve been using as of late. The company says this line is 100% free of harsh chemicals, synthetic preservatives, parabens, GMOs, synthetic colors and synthetic fragrances and is cruelty free.

Physician’s Formula Organic Wear 100% Natural Origin Loose Powder ($13) is a powdered foundation that will give coverage similar to a mineral powder foundation. However, this powder does contain oils (though they are natural safflower seed and jojoba seed oils), so the texture is a bit creamier. A small kabuki brush is included, and it works fairly well, but I prefer a larger brush with a bigger handle. You may want to buy a different brush to get smoother coverage with this powder. I applied it with a Bare Escentuals full-size kabuki.

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You have no idea how much I have been dreading writing this review. For one thing, in doing so, I have to admit that I may possibly have cellulite somewhere on my person. For another, my experience with Nivea’s Good-Bye Cellulite Patches was so ridiculous that it probably belongs in a video comedy blog on YouTube instead of in mere words here.

If you’re incredibly young or have not yet birthed a child and therefore haven’t experienced the untold bodily joys of aging and pregnancy, look away now. You probably have a few good years left where you can pretend that you will never need to consider purchasing a product that seeks to destroy cellulite. I think all of us who are past that point will support your right to exist in denial for the moment.

I decided to try these anti-cellulite patches because I was headed to Vegas for a weekend and my adorable travel companion mentioned that she wanted to spend a day by the pool. The idea of parading in front of hundreds of people in a swimsuit spurred me into action. I started with the Nivea Good-Bye Cellulite Gel-Cream. Aside from its really odd blue color, this cream is kind of nice. I liked the scent, which wasn’t too flowery or strong. I also liked that it absorbed fairly quickly, so I didn’t feel like I needed to wait forever before getting dressed. After using the gel-cream for a couple of days, I noticed that the bottle said it worked best when used along with the Good-Bye Cellulite Patches. So I headed off to Walmart again to grab some of these miraculous patches. Vegas wouldn’t know what hit ‘em, baby.

Describing these patches is difficult, because I honestly can’t come up with any substance I’ve encountered so far that comes close to what these things feel like. They’re a little stretchy, a little gooey, a little sticky, a lot rubbery, a bit fuzzy on one side, and really, really cold on the side that touches your skin. The best comparison I can come up with is this: if you were to cross a thin rubber mouse pad with a slightly furry exterior with one of those weird absorbent plastic things that come in the bottom of the meat tray when you buy ground round at the grocery store, that is what you will be sticking on your legs, or rear end, or stomach, or any other area that is plagued by cellulite.

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Finding a foundation that works for your skin tone and gives you the coverage you want isn’t always easy. In fact, in my case, I think I was 27 years old before I found one that I actually liked.

My glamorous friend Sus recently tried out Almay smart shade foundation and was kind enough to share her thoughts on it. This made me happy for several reasons. For one thing, Sus always looks like a supermodel, so knowing which products she’s using to look that good benefits all of us. For another, I’ve been insanely curious about this foundation that claims to adjust itself to match your skin tone, but since it took me so long to find just one foundation I liked, I get a little squeamish about trying too many others. I get flashbacks of foundations past, my friends, and they are not pretty.

Here’s what Sus says about Almay smart shade foundation. On our coverage scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the heaviest, Sus gives this a 1.5. “It’s not for someone who needs their foundation to cover anything,” she says.

It comes out of the tube white, but starts to change color as soon as it touches the face. It smooths on very easily and dries quickly. “This is nothing like a tinted moisturizer, in my opinion, because it dries ‘dry’ and not dewy looking,” Sus notes. “My skin is pretty smooth and even tone with small pores. It gives me a basic coverage to even things out.”

Sus didn’t think Almay smart shade foundation was very moisturizing, so she says to moisturize your skin before putting it on. She gives this foundation bonus points for having an SPF of 15, adding some sun protection to your daily routine.

As long as you’re not looking for major coverage from a foundation, Almay smart shade actually works as advertised. Because it’s fairly sheer, the color can look good on various skin tones, and it wears well. Almay smart shade is oil free. It costs about $10 for a 1-oz. tube. Comes in three shades.

Thanks for visiting. Let me tell you why I started this blog and what you can expect to find here as Little Diva on the Prairie grows. I love girly, pretty things. I enjoy reading fashion magazines and staying current on trends (at least the ones that don’t make me look ridiculous).

Here’s the problem. I married a farmer who dragged me kicking and screaming from my cozy city existence to live in rural Kansas. After driving here, one of my city friends once described the route to my house as this: “you drive to the middle of nowhere, take a left, go two more miles, and her house is on the right.” Occasionally I make it to the city to go shopping at Sephora or a department store or somewhere that allows me to revel in glorious product goodness. Most of the time, however, my makeup and skincare shopping is limited to the stores within an hour’s drive of my house. That means Walmart or a smaller discount store with a very limited selection. Most of those pretty, trendy things in magazines are not at those stores, sadly.

So, what is a rural girl to do? Not content to simply stop taking pride in my appearance, I started looking for substitutes for the products I loved but couldn’t find in my new rural locale. Sometimes I gave up and ordered from the vast beauty realm of the internet. Most of the time, though, with some trial and error, I found that I could use fairly inexpensive, widely available cosmetics and skincare products and be just as happy with the results as I was when I paid a lot more for the trendy brands.

I’m not a makeup artist or skincare guru. I’m just a girl who likes to look good and doesn’t want to drive a hundred miles to buy a specific brand of mascara. That’s why Little Diva on the Prairie was born. Whether you’re a small town girl like me who wants to find beauty products that work and are easy to find in stores you can get to quickly, or you’re a diva on a budget looking for inexpensive ways to keep up with trends, this blog is for you.