Cosmoprof North America 2013 RECAP

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This past week I attended the biggest (easily) beauty trade show in my usual lineup: Cosmoprof North America. Literally hundreds of vendors from all over the world gathered together to meet with buyers, educators, salon distributors, and of course – ME. [Read more…]

Favorite Natural Beauty Products

earth-day

And so you have this Earth, kay…

It’s Earth Day! So even though eco-friendly/natural beauty isn’t the primary focus of this blog, I couldn’t let Earth Day just go by without talking about it. Thus, my favorite natural beauty products…ready, go!

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1. LUSH Lemony Flutter – How could I do a post about natural beauty products and not mention LUSH? Lemony Flutter is a faaaaabulous cuticle cream with an herbal-lemon fragrance. It just plain works wonders on cuticles. It’s also great for super dry skin like maybe on your elbows or heels. A little bit goes a long way, and the packaging is recyclable! ($16.95, LUSH)

2. LUSH Honey Trap – I walked into my local LUSH and pretty much said “I have super duper dry lips. HELP!” and the sweeties in there suggested Honey Trap. They said any of their lip balms are great, but that this one is the best. It’s compact (again, recyclable packaging), a great texture/consistency, smells nice, and most of all it moisturizes like a dream! It works well as an overnight treatment if you slather it on, too. I’ve had my little tin for ages and it doesn’t really show signs of getting used up OR turning bad any time soon, but when it does I will definitely replace it. ($7.25, LUSH)

3. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush – I have a lot of beloved products from Tarte but this one was my top pick. The Amazonian Clay Blushes are touted as a 12-hour blush. I rarely need to make my makeup last 12 hours but this blush definitely lasts all day. I love the texture of them (not too powdery, not too hard), the packaging, and all the fun shades! I have about half a dozen of these, but Exposed is my favorite. It’s a rosy nude shade that I think every pale girl needs in her arsenal. ($26, Tarte)

4. Korres Cherry Oil Full Color Lip Gloss – I actually don’t own any of these anymore, because my mom loves them so much I gave mine to her. ;) But they are really lovely lip glosses that smell good enough to eat thanks to the cherry oil. The formula is extremely non-sticky and lightweight with a nice amount of both shine and color. If you don’t think you’re a lip gloss person, try these. Mom did and was hooked! ($17, Sephora)

5. LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub – This post isn’t sponsored by LUSH I swear, haha. But it’s a delicious flavored, PINK colored sugar you exfoliate your lips with. It’s yummy (cmon, it’s SUGAR), so this is one of those products where not only can you eat it, you’ll actually want to. But save some for your lips please…! ($9.95, LUSH)

6. Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque – Somewhere, Krissy from Addicted To All Things Pretty is reading this and nodding going “I TOLD YOU”, because she’s the one responsible for me trying this product. This mask smells amazing, and makes my hair feel like buttah. That’s because it has both macadamia and argan oils in it. I use it about once a week or so to keep my hair looking and feeling great. I have the small size pictured because that’s what I have, but I’ll definitely be getting a larger size once this is gone. ;) ($16, Macadamia)

7. Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water – This stuff just rocks, simply said. It’s a luxurious, effective cleansing water that is extremely gentle. Its main ingredients (besides water!) are plant extracts. It really is a spa water and will leave you feeling pretty pampered. The herbs and minerals are highly soothing. Try it once and you’ll definitely want to come back for more. ($39, Sephora)

Face of the Day: Sundressed

This is what I wore on my face today. Well, you won’t be reading it the day I wore it, but this is what I wore to work on 11/26. :) I work in a chic business casual office and just wanted enough color to perk up my face and look polished. Read on to see what I used…

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April Favorites

I never know what picture to put up for my favorites posts, so I put up a cute picture of Sienna sitting on my vanity. The lovely lace train case is a Caboodles case, of course. ;)

I really need to be better about remembering what my favorites are, haha. I always draw such a blank when I begin writing these posts. *rolleyes*

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Lush Chou Chou I Love You Review

I’ve been meaning to review these for a while now but work has been suuuuuuuuuuper busy so basically all I wanna do when I get home is eat dinner, veg out for a little while, and pass the f out. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I jumped at the chance to try these because Toothy Tabs are such a unique product. They’re little ‘tabs’ that are about the same size and shape as Smarties candy. You crunch up the tab between your front teeth and it foams up like crazy, giving you a lathery toothpaste. Then it’s time to grab your toothbrush and do yo’ thang. You do have to spit and/or rinse; the toothpaste is just that– toothpaste. They emphasize that these are not breath mints that you would crunch up and swallow.
LUSH Toothy Tabs come in several different varieties with different flavors. Chou Chou…I Love You Toothy Tabs are rose/lemon flavored. I often think standard mint toothpastes can be too strong (and forget cinnamon! ack!) so I was intrigued to try something lemon/rose flavored. The lemon though is pretty darn bitter. It’s not awful, but it’s not particularly to my liking either. Should’ve stuck with mint, lol. If I were to try another flavor I’d probably go for the Dirty tabs. The after-effect is pretty cool. My teeth feel squeaky clean, just like with my regular toothpaste.
The little box is about the size of a pack of gum and holds 40 tabs, and costs $4.95. As is often the case with products like this, quality costs more. But if you travel a lot these are great to toss into a purse or carry-on. You could even keep them in your desk at work…hmm… ;)
Product sent for editorial consideration.
Compensation: Fresh breath.

Lush The Ex Factor Bath Bomb

As some of you already know, I was in a minor car accident on Friday morning. I’m relatively okay, car will need repairs, and you know what a joy that is! But what I really needed was a nice relaxing bath. And oh, what do you know, I happened to have one of these little guys hanging around waiting for a chance to make me feel good.
The Ex-Factor is limited edition for Valentine’s Day, or rather for Singles Awareness Day ;) this little guy is intended to be a bit of therapeutic voodoo for anyone who maybe isn’t the biggest fan of Valentine’s Day. After all, you can break off his limbs and dissolve them! Who hasn’t known a guy they wanted to do that to? I may or may not have pretended it was the guy who ran into me. 
The scent is described as a musky vanilla, which kinda scared me at first but the smell is divine. It’s vanilla, but not buttery sweet sugar vanilla (like B&BW Warm Vanilla Sugar). It’s a grown-up, sophisticated vanilla. And extremely relaxing. The scent is not overpowering and didn’t really linger much on my skin after the bath, but a dusting with Vanilla Puff body powder can help layer and extend the fragrance if you choose. 
The happiest part of this experience for me?
He turns the water BRIGHT BLUE! It’s such a beautiful color and it made me so happy to lounge around in blue water. I don’t know why, but the color just really cheered me up and made me feel good. And also made me wish I had a bigger bathtub. I was kinda cramped. :P 
Ex Factor is $4.95, 3.5 oz, and you can easily break him up into pieces for multiple baths. Personally, I broke him in half for my bath. I definitely plan on shufflin’ over to the newly opened Fashion Island LUSH location in Newport Beach to pick up more of these little guys, and I suggest you do too! Even if you don’t have any need for voodoo, blue water + vanilla = a good time in the tub for anyone.
Sample provided for editorial purposes.

Lush Bb Seaweed Mask Review

As those of you who follow me on Twitter already know, I have been recovering from a minor surgery the last few days. Everything’s peachy and I’m fine, I just haven’t felt like wearing makeup, and I know I’ve been slacking on my skin care. Since the surgery was on my mouth, my cheek has been swollen and my face has been really sore. I haven’t really wanted to scrub that area much, heh. Consequently my skin has kinda been red and blotchy and I’m breaking out a tiny bit. Blah. One of the things I’m doing now that I’m doing more than popping pain killers and sleeping is using the Lush Bb Seaweed Mask to calm down my irritated, neglected skin.
I told you guys that back on Father’s Day I went in to my first Lush store. One of the things I knew I definitely wanted to try was a Fresh Face Mask. These are only sold in stores (unless you’re in the UK) because they’re freshly made with no preservatives and require refrigeration – they only last a couple weeks, too. This is due again to the no preservatives. However, I’ve had my Bb Seaweed pot longer than the expiration date and noticed no changes whatsoever to the consistency or efficacy – your mileage may vary. I don’t remember the price exactly, but I think it was under $10.
Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. The mask is a kaolin clay-based mixture with seaweed, seaweed absolute, honey, aloe vera, and rose absolute. There are also very tiny ground almond shell particles that can make this mask double as a scrub if you like. This mask is recommended for any skin that needs calming. It is soothing as well as moisturizing. I think it would be great for anyone except if you have extremely oily skin. I find it extremely refreshing to use, especially since you have to keep it refrigerated. It’s so nice to apply on a hot day! In the pot it sort of looks like any other clay mask, except for the pieces of seaweed mixed in. On my face it looks like I’m wearing pesto.
As the mask dries the grey bits fade away to almost clear while the little green leafy bits remain. Then it’s time to rinse. You can just wipe it off, or rub in small circles to utilize the scrubbing action of the little almond particles. Either way I recommend using warm water to remove all the clay. 
Immediately after using my skin feels calm and soothed. The next day, blemishes I had are a little less red and angry. With continued use (and in addition to my regular skin care routine) my skin will be back to normal in no time! This mask is a little extra TLC for my skin, and I’m loving it!

Lush Haul & Reviews

I have ordered Lush products from their website, but on Father’s Day I was walking around 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica with my family – where there so happens to be a Lush store. I decided to pop in and check stuff out. There’s a lot of Lush products I had heard about or been curious to try, but since it is so strongly fragranced I was hesitant to jump in without the all-important sniff test beforehand. I couldn’t help but take the opportunity! 
Lush is quite overwhelming in that they have a ton of things, so I asked Twitter for suggestions on what to try out. The recommendations came flooding in! Thank you all so much for your feedback! I ended up hauling a few things:
– Ocean Salt Face & Body Scrub
– Bb Seaweed Fresh Face Mask
– Bubblegum Lip Scrub
– Dragon’s Egg Bath Bomb (I grabbed 2 of these!)
I’ve been loving everything I got! Dragon’s Egg I picked out all on my own just by sniffing all the bath bombs. It’s supposed to be “sherbet scented” but I think it smells like a freshly opened box of fruit loops! It’s very bright and citrusy and I can’t wait to see how it works for me in the bath. It’s said to be a good “wake up” fragrance. Other scents I really liked were Vanilla Fountain and Fizzbanger. I don’t take baths too often (I don’t have a bath tub in my bathroom so if I want to use a tub I have to go upstairs and use mom’s) so I only wanted to grab a couple, but Fizzbanger’s definitely next on my list. 
The Bubblegum lip scrub is possibly my favorite thing I hauled from Lush. I’m not even that into bubblegum, but the moment I smelled the tester I was hooked. It’s not something I typically would gravitate towards, but I am so glad I gave it a shot. It was suggested to me via Twitter, but I’d also seen a few people mention it on Youtube. Guess I’m on the bubblegum bandwagon, because I would definitely recommend it. At first I thought it was kinda expensive at $8.95, but now that I’ve used it and I realize how long this little jar will last me, I’m okay with it. I’d be really excited if they ever came out with this in stick form, but this stuff is great and I love it. Give it a shot! It’s pink! I’d been having a really hard time with chapped lips lately and had finally found a lip balm that helped (plain ole’ medicated chapstick – go fig) and I use that in conjunction with this scrub for perfectly smooth soft lips.
Ocean Salt is a very coarse salt-based scrub that also contains lime and vodka. Hello! My skin can take a lot of exfoliation. I figured if this was too much for my face I could always use it on hands and feet etc. but my face handles this totally fine. It really smells like you are scrubbing your face with a boozy cocktail though, which isn’t for everyone. My mom says it smells like medicine. Yeah well, for some people that is medicine, lol. The first time I used it I thought it made my face feel sticky afterward and I was really bummed that it wasn’t going to work out for me, but I’ve used it a few times since then and didn’t have the sticky feeling. A little bit goes a long way, so I’m glad I only got the small pot. This scrub is wonderful for really giving that “squeaky clean” feeling after a long, sweaty summer day.
I’ll be doing a review of the Dragon’s Egg after I use it, as well as a review of the seaweed mask at a later date.
What are your favs from Lush? What should I try next time?

Get Naked with LUSH!

Ahh, LUSH. You’ve done it again. If I had actually shopped every time something from your multicolored wares caught my eye…

I just saw this new set that would be great for both Lushies and LUSH newbies (like myself) alike, and wanted to share it with you! Introducing the Get Naked kit. For only $20, you can get some of LUSH’s best-selling products.

6 products for $20! In a biodegradable, earth-friendly box. The products included are:
– Mini Squeaky Green shampoo bar
– Mini Buffy body butter
– Mini Therapy massage bar
– Sexy Peel soap
– your choice of Toner Tab (Vitamin E, Q10, T-Tree, or Vitamin C)
– your choice of either Fresh Farmacy or Coalface cleansers
The kit is limited edition, so if this tickles your fancy you should get over to LUSH asap and grab one!