Another month, another batch of beauty products/services I’ve given the A-OK to and therefore, so should you. 

I’m fresh off a lovely (and relatively painless) brow wax at Miyagi salon (411 E. Hennepin Ave) with its adorable owner, Mo. Need a haircut and don’t want to get your ends trimmed at Great Clips on campus? Miyagi is just a short jaunt from campus and it’s beyond — trust me, I’m incredibly difficult about my hair and this is the only place I’ve ever gotten my split ends trimmed off in the Cities. Miyagi is an Aveda concept salon with a penchant for ninjas, rock ‘n’ roll music (at my last visit, the Stooges were playing) and great cuts and color. They run on a strict no-tip policy to make sure you’re ALWAYS satisfied with your service — so far they’re 3/3 in my book. (http://www.dojoforbeauty.com for more information)

If you know me, you know I change my nail polish as often as I change my clothes. For the past two weeks I’ve been obsessed with OPI Suede, another ingenious creation from the folks at OPI, who sure do know how to get $8.50 out of me with every collection. Whereas I was intrigued by the concept of matte nail polish but found the results ultimately lacking, sueded polish is just what I was looking for. It’s relatively matte but with a kick of flat shimmer. My Suzi Skis is a gunmetal gray that I love for tough-girl nails. Doesn’t come off easily, but beauty is pain, darlings. You can see swatches here: http://www.makeuptalk.com/forums/f126/opi-suede-collection-autumn-2009-a-98468.html. I found mine at Ulta, but you should be able to find them where OPI is sold.

Whenever I stop at Nicollet Macy’s (finally paid off my bill, which was of course all makeup-and-cupcake related) or Nordstrom, I inevitably find myself at the NARS counter. I inevitably leave with some sort of makeup, or a face full of it. When I took a detour towards the Nordstrom spot last week, the makeup artist showed me their new Eyeliner Stylo — it’s like a felt-tip Sharpie for your eyes! Putting on eyeliner is as easy as . . . well . . . writing on your eyelid? They come in black, brown and electric blue and all three shades are stunning and easy to apply. Trust me, I tried. However, the black I scribbled on my hand stayed for about four days, even with my preventative H1N1 hand scrubbing. Don’t know how I feel about that, but I’m stopping at the Nicollet counter as often as possible until the pens are released. There’s a waiting list at Nordstrom! Check them out at FaceCandy: "http://facecandy.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-product-nars-eyeliner-stylo.html.

And one last beauty obsession for the month: Chanel’s much-lauded new Jade nail polish. Yeah, yeah, I know — I’m ridiculous about my nail polish. The quality of the polish ain’t great for $22 but I NEED THIS COLOR NOW. It was created for the Fall ’09 Chanel show and looks so incredibly chic I may, in the words of Rachel Zoe, die. If anyone can find me a bottle I’d love them forever.  I’ve found a pretty good dupe, but I’m still wary of paying over $9 for a bottle of polish. Stay tuned to see if I win out. I’m pretty persistent when it comes to beauty products.