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"Everybody settled in? Good. Time for another get-to-know-you chat with a fabulous beauty blogger! Today we&amp;#x27;ve got Erika, the Nevada-based mom behind the ultra-cute site makeupbag.net with a low-maintenance approach to getting prettied up. Read on for all the stuff you know you wanna know like why she started the blog, the best tip she&amp;amp;#8217;s gotten recently, and the mascara she&amp;amp;#8217;s obsessed with.TGBD: So tell me about your background and how you started the blog. Erika: Makeup Bag will be THREE this summer. I can&amp;#x27;t even believe it! It started off as a fun little creative outlet and has grown into a behemoth that runs my life. Haha. My three daughters (Bree, 17, Bailey, 15, and Janey, 6) help me with testing products, writing stories and, just recently, making videos. Now it&amp;#x27;s a family affair! TGBD: In your personal life are you a big product person or are you a natural kind of girl? Erika: I like to think I&amp;#x27;m low-maintenance in that I don&amp;#x27;t need to be fully coiffed and made-up to leave the house (I&amp;#x27;m perfectly okay with heading out the door sans makeup). However, I do spend a ridiculous amount of time in my bathroom at night. I take meticulous care of my skin and I like to keep my nails freshly painted. TGBD: Name three products that have changed your life (and tell me why!). Erika: There are so many products I feel like I can&amp;#x27;t live without, however the three that currently hold a special place in my heart are: * Clinique Comfort on Call. This fragrance-free, super rich moisturizer was my knight in shining armor this winter. I live in the high desert and my skin gets dry, flaky patches in the winter months. Comfort on Call gives my dry skin relief without irritating or clogging my pores. It&amp;#x27;s true love. * CoverGirl LashBlast Waterproof Mascara. A few of my friends have a love/hate relationship with LashBlast: They love the volume it creates but hate the gigantic wand. Not me. I&amp;#x27;m obsessed with this mascara (in the waterproof formula) and feel like the oversized wand makes my skimpy Asian lashes thick and full. * Jurlique Citrus Hand Cream. For the last year I&amp;#x27;ve been searching for a hand cream that is equally fantastic as Jurlique Citrus Hand Cream, but so far, nothing. Because it&amp;#x27;s so expensive this is definitely an indulgence but I&amp;#x27;m determined to find a cheaper alternative. In the mean time, I&amp;#x27;ve been using my last tube sparingly! TGBD: What&amp;#x27;s the best tip you&amp;#x27;ve heard recently? Erika: Manicurist Erica Marton at the Sally Hershberger Face Place gave me the best tip: Keeping cuticles soft and pretty by filing them with your nail file! TGBD: What spring trends are you super excited about? Erika: I love all the bright blue shadows we&amp;#x27;re seeing this season. Blue smoky eyes are a great variation of the rock-inspired original and are a bit less intimidating. TGBD: Are you a lipgloss or a lipstick person? Erika: Both! My favorite Bobbi Brown Basics Lip Palette gives me the best of both worlds! TGBD: What&amp;#x27;s one product you never ever leave the house without? Erika: Chapstick and hand cream. TGBD: &amp;#x27;Fess up. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? Erika: Shower included, I can be out the door in 30 minutes. See? I really am low-maintenance! Thanks, Erika! Curious about the products she mentioned? Check &amp;#x27;em out below! If you haven&amp;amp;#8217;t already been reading makeupbag.net, make sure to add it to your bookmarks. Then, for more insights from other great bloggers, check out my past interviews here. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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