Temperatures in the Bay Area are dropping this week and my hands can really tell the difference. They’re ashy, cracked, and are just plain uncomfortable.
Maybe the gods knew I needed some help (bad!) and sent me some Shea Cashmere creams from True Blue Spa for my poor hands and feet.
This new collection of affordable, yet luxe, spa products are formulated with African shea butter and cashmere extract. Before I go on with how much I enjoy Shea Cashmere, let’s step back for a second.
What the heck is cashmere extract, you ask? I was curious about that one too and did some digging.
Organic and natural beauty brands grew in popularity in 2008 with one of those brands being Verikira Naturals, a line of skincare, body and aromatherapy products made with natural and organic ingredients like essential oils, vitamins and extracts from flowers, herbs and fruits.
I don’t often use organic products, mostly because they don’t quite have the textures or consistencies that regular beauty products do. They also smell more on the medicinal side or like herbs to me (which I’m not a fan of). With that said, I was curious to try Verikira Naturals to see if I could find a natural beauty line I could enjoy.
Spicy Citrus Hand & Body Wash ($16 US) is a nearly pure plant-based gel you can use in the shower or for your hands sink-side.
Pros:
- Just a couple of pumps is enough to get your whole body squeaky clean.
- It lathers better than other “organic” products I’ve tried.
Cons:
- The scent is very reminiscent of Wet Naps, like the kind you get at Red Lobster after your meal. While this may not be desirable in the shower, the fresh scent might be nicer when you just wash your hands with it.
Introducing a new feature here on The Daily Cookie for all you ladies who’ve promised to curb your addiction in the new year amidst our economic state.
Recessionistas Rule! will bring you favorite products to keep you looking polished without sacrificing your pocketbook. All beauty finds are under $20 to satisfy the budget-conscious diva in all of us.
Eariler this week, I spotted a huge L’Oreal display at Target that caught my eye featuring H.i.P. Color Presso Gloss.
Around this time of year, I find myself wondering what I can do to sass up my look. It’s a mental thing I think, if I change something about my appearance, it (hopefully) symbolizes change in the rest of the year.
Yesterday I was reading an article on Yahoo! Shine about tips for updating your look in 2009. Some of these sound like a lot of fun and certainly do-able, like changing your hair or attempting a new accessories style. I’d really like to wear false lashes at least once a week!
Others just seemed out of left field to me - buy a new bra to dress up your breasts? I’m not sure how this helps me to update my look, unless the Boyfriend notices, LOL!
What’s your favorite tip from Yahoo! Shine to update your look and how would you incorporate that into your style regimen in the new year? I’d love to hear about them in the Comments!
It’s finally Saturday, folks! As well as the first day of the NFL post-season and I can’t wait to see the Colts’ Peyton Manning play against the Chargers tonight.
So while I’m torn between rooting for my favorite quarterback and the team from my birthplace, San Diego, if you’re not doing anything please check out this week’s top reads from the ladies of The Beauty Blog Network.
Beauty Anonymous is in love with the Lady Dior palette from Dior spring 2009 makeup collection.
A Touch of Blusher reviews products from Nude Skincare.
ThisThatBeauty is ringing in the New Year with an awesome giveaway of products from Make Up For Ever, Frederick Fekkai, Eztee Lauder, Shiny Mama, Cosmedicine, and MUCH MUCH MORE.
It’s been a drab couple of days in San Francisco and I could think of nothing better to brighten up my look than with colors from Bobbi Brown’s new Bobbi Brights Eye Palette.
Inspired by Bobbi’s work from Spring 2009 Fashion Week with colorful shades of pinks and lavenders as seen at the Erin Fetherston show, the Bobbi Brights Collection comes complete with this monster of an eye palette featuring a whoppin’ 35 eye colors, most of them so bold you can hardly believe that it comes from Bobbi Brown.
I spent a little time playing around with Bobbi Brights Eye Palette ($70 US), musing over the tri-fold design and the size of the mini shadows. For me, the smart packaging of 35 shades is great. The design allows this massive palette to stay compact and travel-friendly, definitely not daunting at all.
For my FOTD, I decided on a teal eye - something whimsical and fun to brighten up my mood in the middle of our wet and overcast New Year’s weekend.
In the middle of winter, most of us dream of warmer temperatures, the fresh rain of spring, the first blooms in April, and the gorgeous minimalist makeup looks of the new season.
Prescriptives’ new Spring 2009 In Bloom Color Collection is completely inspired by whimsical and delicate florals like lilies, marigolds, petunias, and sunflowers in both the colors and packaging.
Yesterday while I was trying to recover and forget about my nasty New Year’s hangover - I can only imagine it was the champagne since I didn’t drink that much - I pulled out this gorgeous In Bloom Cheek Color Duo ($28 US) to take my mind off my pounding headache.
To ring in the new year (and hopefully make it an even better one than last year), I’m starting a couple of new features here on The Daily Cookie that I hope you’ll enjoy - starting with Beauty Basement.
In this column, I’m going to revisit some of your beauty faves that you might have forgotten about. Maybe it’s sitting at the very bottom of your makeup bag, or it’s buried somewhere on your vanity. Either way, we’re going rescue it from the storage box here on Beauty Basement and remind you why it’s a must-have in 2009.
Yesterday while I was window shopping at the mall, I spotted a mega-sale at Bath & Body Works - $3 Signature Body Lotions when you purchase the ones with the older packaging.
After taking a closer look, I found out that the classic scents are 75% off this week! That means you can pick up your old favorites from high school like Country Apple, Juniper Breeze and my personal fave, Sheer Freesia for just $2.38 plus tax.
The only downside to this is that the selection will vary by stores because these classics (as with most classics) are hard to find. But if I were you, I’d mosey on over and check it out; you just can’t beat the price tag
It’s New Year’s Eve.. hard to believe that the end of 2008 is upon us.
This year was full of ups and downs for me in my personal and professional life. One of this year’s best that combined both of those things for me was this blog.
- Jeannie, our East Coast Contributor, went behind the scenes at Three Custom Color and talked shop with co-founder Chad Hayduk to get the scoop on Fall/Winter 2008 trends. She also got to see how 3CC makes custom lip glosses right on the spot!
- Summer kicked off Dior’s Confessions of a Beauty Director events where I got to meet Director Joelle Russo and found out her favorite products and tips for hot-weather beauty.
- Wearing false lashes doesn’t have to be the time-consuming task you think it is. All it takes is a little patience and an easy step-by-step. I think one of my New Year’s resolutions will be to wear falsies at least once a week - in public
- 2008 brought the release of Danity Kane’s sophomore release, Welcome to the Dollhouse, as well as the band’s demise. But no one can deny these ladies are gorgeous - with a little help from celebrity makeup artist J.J. Jacobucci and her tips on how she made up the girls during their album cover shoot.
- I love it when my friends get into the beauty thing with me. Thanks to Nicky from the shu uemura boutique in San Francisco, his tips and tricks proved easy enough for us to transform my friend Susan into pop icon Madonna from her Hard Candy album cover look.
- There was lots of chatter about Miley Cyrus’ Vanity Fair photo shoot back in the Spring. Are your thoughts on the topic the same, or still as strong as it was 8 months ago?
What were some of your favorite memories from the past year? Hopefully this year has been great and best wishes from me to you and yours for a wonderful 2009. Happy New Year!!!
I have to admit, I don’t surf the online beauty websites as often as I’d like to. But this morning, I was perusing Allure.com and came across this photo to base my holiday look around.
There’s nothing more captivating in the middle of winter than a shimmery ice princess, a look that I think I can pull off just by adding a little bit of sparkle to my eyes and lips. And I have the perfect lip glosses in mind to finish my look - tarte’s Purse Your Lips Limited Edition Super Fruit Lipgloss Clutch ($39 US).
This lip collection comes with 9 brand new limited edition shades formulated with tarte’s t5 super fruit complex blend of the five most active superfruits packed with vitamins and antioxidants to benefit your skin including pomegrante, acai, and goji.
All the shades are on the sheer side, but are definitely buildable to obtain a little bit of color if you really want it, especially the darker colors. The formula is also tacky enough to stay on for a few hours, but not annoying sticky - which makes for a nice lip gloss.
From L to R: shimmering bubblegum pink, sheer pink nectar, gold-tinged plum, shimmering brown sugar, shimmering near nude, shimmering deep mauve, sheer crimson, shimmering deep cranberry, and shimmering nude-peach
