The Cosmetic Executive Women have announced their 2006 winners!

These awards are really known for picking great beauty products, and I love the number of categories and range of price points. If you’re looking for a good scrub/foundation/tanner above/below $12 or something, this is the place to go for recommendations.

Some of my favorites that they honored:

Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer - Best Body Treatment Under $15.

I have been using this since skirt season sans pantyhose began, to mask my pasty white legs. I’ve been using the light skin shade, but may go up to medium after this bottle is out. It is a subtle color, but it does make pale winter skin more presentable and there is really no streaking. I did get one blotchy spot on my elbow, but one good exfoliation got rid of it. It’s not a major tan, but it suits my purpose well.

Burt’s Bees Honey Lip Balm - Best Lip Treatment Under $12

Does this really require explanation? Doesn’t everyone love Burt’s Bees? I do! My husband however thinks the tingling is some kind of allergic reaction (I told him it’s not) so he won’t kiss me if I’m wearing this. So, no wearing it to bed!

Chanel Ultra Wear Lip Color - Best Lip Product over $12

This is one of my favorites for the double-ended wand. It has even weaned me off of using the same Benetint lip stain every day to ensure my lips have some color. This product does it on its own.

Could a sales war between department stores be on the horizon? Let’s hope so. More sales will be coming down the pike as Memorial Day approaches.

Sales and Promotions:

New Arrivals and Featured Items:

Check out Today’s Pick at ThriftyChick.

This 1960s Roger Van S. lemon leather handbag is like carrying a bit of sunshine around on your shoulder. Priced at $290. View extra details and images.

At 5′2″ I NEED my heels. Especially with all the summer skirts getting pulled out of the back of the closet. But okay, okay, the doctors are right - they hurt, they’re bad for our feet. We know! Stop pestering us! Carrie Bradshaw was able to run around the city streets all day in her Manolos! (Don’t give me that “she’s a fictional character” crap! Next you’re going to say kids in high school don’t really dress like the ones on The O.C.!)

But, a little while ago, I read about Insolia Inserts. They’re supposed to shift weight to your heel to reduce pressure and prevent pain. They’re created by a doctor, and shoe manufacturers like DKNY are building them into their shoes, so, okay, I’ll try it!

I’ll admitt I was skeptical at first. Honestly, they felt uncomfortable in anotherwise comfy pair of open toed stilettos that just put too much pressure on the balls of my feet. (Adorable, bronze, kind of nautical-inspired without being too trendy.)

I moved them around, following the instructions and tried to get comfortable on my feet. I’m not used to any kind of inserts or anything, so it still felt weird walking into work.

But, I will say that each time I got up from my desk to go to the bathroom or printer, they felt better and better. After running around at lunchtime, still no pain in the balls of my feet! I think they’re working!

So, now I’m excited about them and my feet feel comfy. Be forewarned that they do take a little getting used to, but I’d definitely recommend!

$8.90 a pair at the Insolia Web site.

As avowed (or more accurately, mentioned off-the-cuff) last week, I visited the Met’s Anglomania exhibit and, as expected, the boyfriend reluctantly came along, bitching and whining the whole time since the 4/5 wasn’t running and we had to take the 6 all the way up to 77th street, making every local stop along the way. He put a one hour time constraint on our visit, which was ample time to tour the exhibit, try to teach him something about couture, stop to look at a few pieces of Flemish art on the second floor of the Met and visit the rooftop terrace.

Observations about the Exhibit:
The exhibit is set up as a juxtaposition of old world British style (tradition) and modern, fashion forward British designs (transgression) to demonstrate the evolution of one through the influence of the other. Most of the museum visitors, who were above your average fanny pack wearing tourist set, didn’t get it. I overheard patrons make comments like, “Wow, its amazing that they were able to make dresses like that back in the 1800s,” while looking at pieces from John Galliano’s 1994 Princess Lucretia collection. One genuinely confused woman was thankful when I explained the concept to her, saying that she thought Hussein Chalayan’s rag-picker dresses (2002) would have been remarkably ahead of their time. Sigh.

The designs were displayed on mannequins as part of a larger installation of English furniture and art, similar to the set up of a tour of a European palace or estate. I wanted to get closer and examine the fabric and garment construction, but I couldn’t because most of the designs were cordoned off in their artificial settings.

The most interesting installation was the “Lansdowne Room’s Gentlemen’s Club,” mostly because of the mohawk made of cigarettes and the mannequin dog in leather and chains.

If you can’t make it over to the exhibit, the pictures on Style.com are a very good approximation of the experience (the lighting is muted and space is small, sometimes the pictures provide greater up-close detail than what you can see in person).

The view from the roof of the Met is worth the fifteen minutes we spend wandering around the first floor, receiving conflicting directions from museum attendants in every gallery, until we finally stumbled upon the elusive elevator that is the only access point to the roof.