As usual, I am trying a little of this and a little of that this week. Here are some products that have come up on my beauty radar lately :) .

Almay The Insider mascara ($7.99)
Just when you thought there were already too many mascaras to choose from, along comes another! Why we need this, I don't know, but The Insider is a nice choice if you are looking for a defining, slightly thickening mascara. It goes on smoothly with no clumps, doesn't flake or smear, reaches almost every lash easily (the brush could be more tapered on the end to reach the small inside lashes), and gives lashes a natural look, not spiky or stiff. The claims about plumping and "nourishing" the lashes "from the inside" is a bunch of hogwash, so if you can ignore that nonsense, this is a decent, reasonably priced drugstore mascara. Find it at drugstores near you or online at drugstore.com (on sale now for $5.99).

Stila Sport h2off Cleansing Cloths ($24)
What a waste of money! Of all the pre-moistened makeup remover cloths I've tried (Basis, Ponds, Biore), these are the thinnest, smallest and most expensive of them all. They rip easily, smell a bit like plastic, and are often hard to get out of the fliptop dispenser (the perforated part where one cloth is supposed to rip away from the next is actually hard to rip!). The only thing I think these are good for is cleaning your or your kids' hands (the hard plastic case is handy to keep in the car or a diaper bag). H2Off are simply too small and inefficient for taking off makeup.

Fresh Soy Formula Face Cleanser ($30 for 6.3oz tube)
I am a total sucker for new things, so during a quick stop at the Fresh counter for a gift, I got roped into buying their new soy face cleanser. Now that I am over the sticker shock ($30 for a cleanser??), I actually like this unique gel. The texture is unusual, like gel-cream encapsulated in a different, clear gel. It feels very slippery, is ever-so-slightly foaming (nice for dry skin) and does a good job of removing makeup and leaving the skin soft and comfortably clean. For winter, this is a perfect compromise between the fresh, clean feeling of a gel and the comfortable, soothing feeling of a lotion. It is my normal-to-dry skin's new favorite cleanser :). In case you are curious, Soy Face Cleanser contains rose extract, cornflower extract, glycerin, mallow extract, chamomile extract, ginseng, aloe, soybean powder, soybean protein, borage seed oil, cucumber extract, vitamin A, vitamin E and gentle cleansing agents.

You can find Fresh products at fresh.com, beauty.com and Sephora.com.

Astara Golden Flame Hydration Mask ($36 for 2.2oz jar)
My favorite dry skin mask used to be BeneFit's Seaweed Mud Mask, until it was discontinued. I've been searching for something soothing and hydrating ever since - and I have finally found it! Astara is known for their ultra-strong exfoliating and anti-bacterial acne masks, so I never would have thought of them for something gentle and soothing. Golden Flame is a gel made up of aloe vera gel, cucumber extract, calendula extract, chamomile extract, and vitamins A, D, E and C. You can slather it on like a mask and after 30 minutes rinse off what hasn't soaked in, or you can dab it lightly around your eyes or on dry areas of your face as an intense moisture surge. This is a perfect mask for winter and will work well for any skin type that needs extra moisture.