I've Gone MINT-al!

I've Gone MINT-al!

About two days ago it dawned on me that I have an insane collection of all things mint. I've always liked mint, but not until recently, did I realize I was taking it a little too far, unintentionally.

I mean... Seriously?

Organix Teatree Mint Shampoo & Conditioner - $7 ea.

If you've been following me at all, you know that I've been slowing detoxing my beauty products. I've recently run out of some Ojon products I wasn't in love with and wanted to go with a healthier option. Besides Jason, Burt's Bees and Yes to Carrots, this was the only other brand in Walgreens that seemed on the safe side. It doesn't have any of the chemicals I look for to avoid (propylene glycol, SLS, parabens, etc), but it does have a long list of ones I've never heard about... I'm afraid to do more extensive research, because I LOVE the smell SO MUCH! It's a sweet mint smell that is heavenly. I really like that it has tea tree mixed in, as well, since I tend to have an irritated scalp.

Pros: 

Shampoo is fantastic - smells great, lathers well. Would repurchase again.

Cons: 

Conditioner leaves my hair feeling like straw and is very water-y. This is odd, because I actually have oily hair and tend to go with less moisturizing conditioners. However, I won't repurchase it again. 

Whole Foods 365 Herbal Mint Shower Gel - $2.99

This product has no "wow" factor other than it's around $2.99 for 16 ounces! Wow! What a great price for an all around staple item to have in your shower. It is blended well enough with other oils that it doesn't make you feel tingly. I have a few other body washes I use more regularly, but this one is almost out, and I bet you my husband used about 75% of it.

Pros: 

Price! Smell. Refreshing; wakes me up in the mornings! Doesn't dry out my skin.

Cons: 

Doesn't lather extremely well. 

Caudalie Beauty Elixir - $18 for 1 oz.

Um... can you tell I like this a bit? I actually chatted about this in my first ever post about my "Beauty Library!" Peppermint oil (along with citrus and rosemary oil) is one of the primary ingredients in this item I will NEVER live without. I have one in my purse at ALL times. I also keep one in my makeup station to set my makeup. Now that summer is around the corner I know I will use these babies up in no time. They're great to spritz on your face if you're feeling hot, sticky and yucky. You can spray it under your arms, on your chest, on the back of your neck... Anywhere you need to feel refreshed. I typically buy these at Sephora, but I recently purchased the third one through Birchbox with my rewards points. I only paid $8 + free shipping!

Pros: 

Made without triclosan, parabens, SLS, propylene glycol, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, or phthalates. Versatile! Can go with you wherever you need a pick me up. Purifying.

Cons: 

None! (Well, maybe I'd save some money if the price was a bit lower). :)

EOS Lip Balm in Sweet Mint - $6

If you read my post about my myriad of favorite lip balms, you know I'm a fan of EOS. (What beauty blogger isn't?) So, I HAD to get this flavor! I just love holding this little guy. I actually bought it on Easter Day for my very own little Easter egg.

Pros: 

Great flavor! No toxic chemicals. Sweetened with stevia! Very moisturizing. Fun shape & fun to apply!

Cons: 

Not as thick as most balms (probably to get it to stay in that round shape). A little expensive for a chapstick. You're paying for the shape.

Origins Sensory Therapy Peace of Mind - $12

I featured this on my Sephora Haul post in January and have gone straight to it for a bit of relaxation many times since! Unlike many of the mint items mentioned so far, this really does tingle and effervesce! You can feel it. Sometimes before bed or whenever I need to unwind, I put a dab on my earlobes, back of my neck and on my forehead. (I have also tried my temples, but my eyes couldn't handle being that close to the mint emissions).

Pros: 

Soothing. A little goes a LONG way. Strong and potent. 

Cons: 

Could sting your eyes if you're sensitive. Also, smell could be too intense for someone sensitive. I personally like it.

One Minute Manicure - $5

Back in the day we used to sell this little gem in the Merle Norman/Brighton store I worked in with my best friend and her mom. We only had the larger sizes (which are like $9 and $34) and we couldn't keep them on the shelves. We had a sink that we would walk women straight over to to sample this, and they'd always walk out with at least one of these goodies.  Basically, it's a hand/cuticle/nail scrub. The sugar/granules settle to the bottom and the oils (with significant amount of peppermint oil) are at the top. You scoop it out and rub a little of the mixture all over your cuticles for about a minute and you have smooth, soft, refreshed skin. When I spotted this at Trade Secret on sale I JUMPED on it! It brought back fun memories of my days as a Merle Norman makeup saleswoman.

Pros: 

Lasts a long time. Works great! Smells yum.

Cons: 

A bit messy - definitely do it over a sink. Contains parabens & artificial fragrance. (Big boo!) 

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Nail Color in Mint Sorbet - $2.36

 After seeing all the beautiful nails wearing Chanel's mint polish, I chose to go with the cheap version. So far I've been pretty happy with it! It's cheap, and I love the color. Every time I wear it I get a ton of compliments. I have it on here, but I put silver glitter over it to prolong a 6 day gelous manicure. My goal is to get to 10 days with no chips!

Pros: 

Fun spring color! Dries quickly. Cheap!

Cons: 

Goes on super thick and can get lumpy fast. I have to put it on in many thin layers to keep it from getting squishy. Who hates having sheet marks the next morning after you thought it had dried 6 hours later?? Doesn't have one of those "beads" in it, so when it settles I can't get it to mix back up.

Young Living Peppermint Oil- $25

You can find thousands of products that contain peppermint oil, but there is nothing like having the real, living, pure thing. Young Living is a great company that sells oils still living that can be ingestible. Most oils (even at Whole Foods) are typically sold for aromatherapy purposes, only, and cannot be ingested. Young Living's oils can be. Peppermint Oil has been known as the world's oldest medicine. It helps with concentration, alertness, the digestive system, blood circulation, kills bacteria, soothes skin and much  more. 

This stuff is potent! I once put one drop in a cup of tea and couldn't drink it, because the steam stung my eyes so much. I now recommend sticking with cold beverages if you want to be able to see. If you're like me and have a hard time getting your 8 cups of H20 in a day, put one or two drops of this in it, and it's more refreshing and tastes better. I once read an article of a hiker who put it in his Nalgene bottles to keep up his energy, since it causes your blood to circulate quicker. I've also put a drop or two on a hot rag to apply to sore muscles. There are SO MANY uses!

Pros:  

A ton! I encourage you to read up on all the health benefits!

Cons: 

None really, other than the cost is a bit high.

And now for my favorite mint product...!

LORAC Mint Edition Collection - $36

Let's be honest. I have an obsession with LORAC palettes. When I saw this one in Ulta, I couldn't imagine how I could walk out without it. If you read my review of the Pro Palette then you know how I adore their eye shadows. 

They're like buttah!

This is the first palette I've purchased that didn't come with the glorious eye primer. But it did come with a gloss that I kinda like. It also came with a shimmery, chain-ish silver makeup bag/clutch that is "ok." I really just care about these eye shadows.

Instead of being all matte on the top and shimmer on the bottom. The top left matte has some glitter specks in it, where as the top two on the right are purely matte. The bottom three are shimmery. I mean, aren't they beautiful!?

Pros: 

Price. Mixture of shimmer and matte. Beautiful, bright blush. Great spring palette with cool tones. Fantastic packaging.

Cons: 

Wish instead of a gloss I got another eye shadow primer.

Wow! I just realized HOW.MANY.MINT.PRODUCTS I just talked about. It's truly mental. 

What about you? Are you obsessed with coral shades? Lavender scented everything? Vanilla? Please share and make me feel less crazy!

Tweet Me • Instagram Me • BlogLovin

Natural & Easy Sunday - FOTD

My First FOTD! 

(Face of the Day)

It's Lazy-Day-Sunday around here, so I went with a natural, romantic look. No eye liner, no HACing, no brow wax/powder & no lipstick. It was nice!

Tarte Smooth Operator BB Tinted Moisturizer in Agent 00 • Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Concealer in Fair • Korres Mineral Foundation in Porcelain 

Korres Blush in 16 Pink/Rose with e.l.f. Blush in Pink Passion stippled on over it on just the apples • Benefit HighBeam on top of my cheek bones

Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel in Espresso • e.l.f. Luscious Liquid Lipstick in  Pink Lemonade

LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Primer • Lorac Pro Palette CREAM as a wash, LT. BRONZE all over bottom of lid, PEWTER in the crease, GOLD lining the bottom lash line & WHITE in the corners and under the brows

Merle Norman Lash Lift Waterproof Mascara

This was my first time wearing a BB cream. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm used to foundation coverage, but I think with a primer and the mineral foundation it works well!

Tweet Me • Instagram Me • BlogLovin

January Beauty Favourites

It's that time again! Time to rave on and on about a few things I just couldn't do without in the month of January.

AND I made a video, again. I'm not sure I'm turning out to be a great YouTuber, but I'm proud that I learned how to add music to a video in iMovie. If that's all I get out of this, than good! (Along with learning that I use the word "um" entirely too much! I need to fix that.

Sorry it's so yellow looking... Again, me trying to use a different camera in different lighting. Fail. 

Bag Balm - $9
I've had this for years. It comes in a fun green tin with an udder on it. 'Nuff said, right? This is a great all-around ointment I use on my lips, feet and other rough skin. Only issue I've had was when it caused my nail polish to bubble up when I used it on my cuticles. It happened twice, so I know it was due to the bag balm. I'm not sure what chemically happens for a balm to do that, but it did. I don't use it on my cuticles any more if I have polish on. I use my Josie Maran Argan Oil instead.

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion - $17
I've used Murad & the Pro Activ mask as spot treatments many times, and this is, by far, what has worked the best for me. If you watch the video, you'll see better how the ingredients separate. You're not to shake it up but use a Q-tip to dip it all the way in and apply to the spot. I wouldn't get it anywhere near your eyes. It puts off a stinging vapor-like feeling/smell. It's most likely the isopropyl alcohol. It sort of looks like calamine lotion you used on your chicken pox as a kid, so you can definitely not wear this with your makeup like you can the Murad spot treatment.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush - $10

 I'd never used a stippling brush before, but after hearing all about it by Estee at Essie-Button, I thought I'd give it a shot! If you want to avoid mussing up your foundation and powder coverage by dragging a blush brush across it, this is the perfect fix. The white bristles stick out past the darker ones and help to grab the product. I believe these are mostly recommended for use with cream blushes, bronzers, highlighters, etc, but I love it for just my plain ol' fuschia blush.

Burt's Bees Nourishing Baby Oil - $9

 It smells sweet and yummy and makes for some super soft and smooth skin! I specifically love it for after shaving my legs, but it works for cuticles, too. I also love that it's natural and won't deliver any toxins into a baby's blood stream (or mine!). If you ever use baby oils, definitely switch to this one.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Concealer in Fair - $22

I'm on my third one, and that's a massive deal. I'm hardly loyal to products, always hoping to find something better. True to form, I left this concealer - my one true concealing love - to use another (won't name names, but the brand starts with a B and ends with -enefit) and came back! It's super smooth, creamy and great coverage. Only down side is I use it up pretty quickly. It opens like a lipstick but is so creamy you don't have to swipe or drag under your eyes. You can just dab or dot. I've found the best way to apply is to dab it on, do your eyes or foundation, etc and come back to it with a concealer brush after your skin has warmed it.

LORAC Behind the Scenes Eye Primer - $21

Free shipping until 2/28/13 on everything!

I know I've talked about this a lot in my Pro Palette review & Sephora.com Haul when I got the Unzipped Palette. It's amazing!! Bottom line.

WoodWick Fireside Candle - $25

Who knew a lovely smell could come with a soothing sound! These candles crackle like a real fire, and it smells like one, too! It's not too masculine, but it leans more that way. If your hubs or better half isn't all about the floral, beachy scents - try this one. I burn it for hours and hours, and it last a long time. This is our second one along with several car air fresheners, too.

Have I convinced you to try any of these? If so, which ones and why? 

Tweet Me • Instagram Me • BlogLovin

Mauve & Taupe. Taupe & Mauve.

Have you ever despised a color (probably because it reminds you of some hideous furniture or style from your 80s & 90s childhood) and then realized one day it was your new fave? Um... I hate to admit it, but I sure have. I bet you can't guess what they are...

MAUVE & TAUPE!

So, mauve... Growing up my parents had a satin mauve sofa. Yes. I said it. Satin. Mauve. Sofa. Disgusting. It was even more disgusting after my brother and I vomited on it as children often do on satin things. So, I think I developed a mental block against all things mauve. I mean, if you're a child of the 90s, you probably swore you'd never wear a scrunchie to avoid ever resembling Blossom. And yet, they're back...

You can imagine my shock and chagrin when I began to truly understand what colors (or colours, for my fellow Anglophiles) go best with my albino pale skin, blue eyes, and pink undertones; and mauve was one of them! At first I balked and refused. Then I received a gift from my grandmother. She had purchased an Elizabeth Arden set of glosses that she gave me. One of the shades was Radiant Mauve. After learning that I needed to mostly sport cool tones I wore it once, then twice, then used up the whole sample size. Then I re-purchased. Do any of you feel that any time you actually purchase something you tried as a sample that it must be absolutely epic? Well, I do! I hardly EVER do that...

The down side to this gloss is it's smell. It really does rather stink. It also isn't as creamy and thick as it was in the sample pot... :( I'm not as happy with the full size as I was with the sample. Nevertheless, I still love the shade & will keep using it.

About that time I realized my Lorac Pro Palette contains a Mauve shade that I'd never worn... not once.

Now I love it with a little Lt Pink and Taupe or Sable with some Nude under my brows and in the corner of my eyes. It compliments my blue eyes and cool undertones really well! 

My most recent mauve purchase was Sonia Kashuk's Mauving it On Up Nail Colour. (She spells it correctly!!) Love this stuff!

I'm not always a fan of pink... or purple. So, mauve, you fit the bill for my girly, cool toned fix. 

Now on to taupe. I'm a huge fan of all things grey. (And black... I should have had a career at Victoria's Secret). So, taupe just seemed like the red headed stepchild of colors. It's not brown and not grey. But it is both. It's kind of dirty and boring. Until now...

Taupe is my new skin-complimenting friend, and I'm so sorry I'd ever ignored or forgotten you. It all started when I stumbled upon this wonderful concept of Highlighting and Contouring (HAC). MaskCARA suggested using a taupe colored pencil to contour down your nose and under your bottom lip. I didn't have a pencil, but I discovered the Taupe shade in my Pro Palette (again)! How had I never used that one, either? That and a liner brush became my contouring friend. Seriously - try it! Just a little under your bottom lip does wonders!

Can you tell the difference between this picture with contouring and the last without?

This led to my googling "pale skin contouring" with bronzers being, by nature, too warm for me. That one google session resulted in my newest blog obsession: Estee over at Essie Button is as fair as me, and she suggested NYX's Powder Blush in Taupe. NYX isn't carried in my state, so off to Amazon I went! I've used it mostly for contouring, but it's also a great blush for days I don't want to use my pinks or peaches.

Essie Button also turned me on to cream shadows... I've never used them. Read my lips - NEVER. I believe after trying it once when I was much younger it creased, and I was over that. That was before primer. Now I religiously prime with Lorac's Behind the Scenes and this next product stays on for days.  

Maybelline's Color Tattoo 24 Hour eyeshadow in Tough as Taupe is more grey than the more-brown Lorac, but it has just that right pigment that makes it better than boring old grey. I really love how this cream shadow makes building shimmers or an intense eye easy! Or you can just wear it solo with the liner of your choice, and you have a carefree daily look.

What do you think? Are there any shades you've steered clear from that you might revisit? Any new, unexpected likes? How about you other pale ones out there - what shades work well for you that could help this sister out?

Tweet Me • Instagram Me • BlogLovin

Is LORAC Underrated? The LORAC PRO Palette Reviewed.

Is LORAC Underrated?

The LORAC PRO Palette Reviewed 

I've always been curious about Lorac's eye shadows after becoming addicted to the Behind the Scenes primer. But, after I purchased this relatively affordable palette ($42) I wondered why there wasn't more hype on the beauty blogosphere. I see so much about UD's Naked palettes (which is not paraben, sulfate, GMO & petrochemical free - all VERY important things to me), but not much on this one. So... here goes!

The packaging is sleek and compact. It's great for tossing in a makeup bag. (I'm definitely no MUA, so I do have most of my products in a bag thanks to my small detested pedestal sink with zero room on it). Packaging is smooth but sturdy and tends to get dirty. You'll see in just a sec... And I've used mine for months, so this is after much use. I also LURV how it comes with a large mirror! A lot of times these sleek palettes lack one, so it's definitely a huge perk!

Here you can see the relatively large mirror.

I REALLY appreciate so much about this palette besides the packaging. Here are my favourite (& not so) things about it!

16 shades!! I mean... WT(glorious)F? I spent more on the Tarte Femme Naturale Eye Palette & only got 12. (Not to mention they're chalky & not as pigmented/long lasting. You don't know how much it hurts me to say that, as Tarte is probably my #1 (or #2) go-to brand @ Sephora).

See the dirty?

Thank You, Lorac! It has shimmer AND matte! PTL!! (If you don't know what that means, you didn't go to enough church camps... :)). CHAMPAGNE is the only shade I'm not thrilled about... It's the one "glittery" shadow in the palette, and it goes on more like loose glitter than the rest of the shimmers. I don't have time for all the pixie dust fallout on my face, so I don't hardly use it.

Let's be honest, sometimes using ONLY shimmery shadows can be annoying. I'd like to be taken more seriously at work (I manage 32 people at an institute of higher learning... come on now!) Soooo, the matte options are perfect! They ARE ultra pigmented and last ALL day (especially with the primer, which is one of my "library*" items).

{Side bar: I looooooove reading & books - hence "Bibliophile." You'll learn... So, if I say something's in my library, it's because I don't buy the full size or have a 2nd go until it's been tested & really impresses me. I'm not typically loyal to many products, but there are a few... I'll do a post on that in the future. Same goes w/ my books. If I say it's library-worthy, than you know it's d*mn good, and the only allowed copy is hard back copy.}

Ok... 'nough of that. Let's continue:

I love (Xs 3) to use NUDE as a brow and inner eye highlighter. It goes on soooo creamy (as do all the colors) & pops! If I'm not in a shimmer mood I use WHITE for the same purpose. I started doing that after Essie @ Essie-Button raved about how much she loved her depotted (brand forgotten) white shadow.

For a while I didn't use TAUPE, but a life changing (ok.. exaggerating) video MaskCARA did here helped me see new ways to use it (as a contour along my nose and under my lip!) and almost the whole palette. If you're like me, you get stuck in a rut, using the same shades over and over, and I'm gad she shook it up for me! I love using GOLD as a liner & PEWTER is my favourite crease color. I layer it over Maybelline's Eye Studio Color Tattoo Cream Gel Shadow in Tough as Taupe.

(Yes... I like Taupe. I also have the NYX blush in Taupe as a contour powder. When you're as albino pale and cool toned as me, you can't use normal bronzers to contour.)

Time for the dark end. I'm super pale, as I mentioned already, and I don't typically use dark shadows for anything. But this stuff is awesome as a liner; I never used to use shadows as liners, but Lorac converted me! I actually haven't used a real liner in weeks. And that's crazy talk. 

I also didn't use GARNET once until watching MaskCARA's video. Now I do. I sometimes feel like having such pink undertones warm colors like garnet, coppers, etc don't work on me, but it does if done right! I also use SLATE all the time. LOVE it.

To wrap up - GET THIS PALETTE. It's creamy, pigmented, paraben free, affordable, has MANY colors, texture and function options and sets like super glue on the Behind the Scenes primer that comes along. 

Any other palettes you gals love? Anyone converted to Lorac now? :)

***Edit on 12/30: Since posting this I had a wonderful recommendation come to me via @AimeeJAdore on twitter that I should try the CHAMPAGNE wet. I did just that, and it worked GREAT and stayed on all day long! No fall out and deep, rich pigment. Thanks, Aimee!***

Tweet Me • Instagram Me • BlogLovin